The DA Hearts
by KitCloudkicker52885
Summary: This is the ultimate Disney Afternoon crossover! With characters from the following shows: —The Gummi Bears —DuckTales —Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers —TaleSpin —Darkwing Duck —Goof Troop —Timon and Pumbaa. Original characters for the story are Matthew and Chris Cloudkicker, father and brother of Kit Cloudkicker.
1. Episode One - The McQueen

**Disclaimer: I do not own TaleSpin! I'm just a fan who adores the series**

* * *

 **Episode One**

 **The McQueen**

* * *

Out in the middle of nowhere above the ocean, somewhere between Cape Suzette and Pirate Island, a vortex ripped open a hole in space and out of it, flew a red Conwing L-sixteen with big thunderbolts painted on both sides of the plane.

In the pilot seat, a tall brown bear wearing a brown leather jacket grinned and looked over to the right at the passenger seat. There sat a preteen bear cub, wearing a French sky blue solid color sweatshirt. Their fur color were different from each other. The bear has chocolate brown fur, and the cub has bronze color fur. The cub looked over at the bear, his eyes were a bright blue.

"Well, we're here." said the bear pilot, as the vortex closed behind them. "Now all we have to do is find Kit."

"Are you sure he's here, Dad?" the cub asked, his voice sounded sweet and innocent. "We've been to dozens of different worlds looking for him, and so far, no luck."

"I have a feeling we're about to get lucky, Chris." the bear said with unwavering confident. "After all, this is the world where we were all born, you, Kit and I. This is our home world."

"Really?" Chris said, sounding mildly interested as he pulled out an iPhone from his pocket, and turned it on. His face fell. "What the— No signal?! Aw man!"

"Yeah…. Any electronics that relies on a WiFi or satellite won't work in this world." the bear said, grinning apologetically. "...And there's no cellphone towers either. The timeline of this world is still in the early twentieth century, somewhere in the nineteen-thirties."

"...We were born in a world... with NO INTERNET?!" Chris cried in disbelief, sliding down in his seat in despair. "Please tell me we still have cable TV..."

The bear gave him a sheepish grin in response. "...NOPE! As I recall, we only had three channels at most. In this era, radio dramas were more common than TV."

There was a long shocked pause and then Chris said with a sad face: "...I wanna go home."

The bear chuckled. "Aw c'mon, Chris, it's not that bad. I mean, sure, things are better in future generations, but kids will always manage to find something fun to do in every era. And besides, you _ARE_ home."

"I want to go home." Chris repeated, looking sadly down at the dysfunctional iPhone. "How am I supposed to navigate you without my GPS?" he asked, holding up his iPhone, showing its 'No Service' message.

For an answer, the bear reached over and banged his fist on the glove compartment, which swung open and a map, a real paper-made map came flying out, unrolling itself under Chris' chin.

Chris stared down at it for a full ten-second, then he turned a look of disbelief upon the pilot.

"...You gotta be kidding me…. I gotta use _THIS_ old thing?" he said incredulously

"Sorry, kiddo." the bear said with a sheepish grin, reaching over and ruffling his son's hair. "In this generation, that's about the only way to navigate."

"Yeah, well…" Chris said, holding the map up to eye level. "I guess it's a good thing I learned to read maps as well as an GPS." he blew on the map and was suddenly engulfed in a cloud of dust, which triggered a coughing fit from Chris that continues until the dust cleared away.

"Heh-heh, yeah, it's been a long time since I used that…." the bear said, grinning sheepishly at the glare Chris was giving him.

Suddenly, a distress call came over the radio.

"Mayday, mayday! This is the _Sea Duck_! I got Air Pirates on my tail and I can't shake 'em!"

" _Sea Duck…_? Why, that's ol' Baloo!" the bear said fondly, reaching for the microphone.

"You know him?" Chris asked.

"Not really, I only knew him as a regular at Louie's Place." the bear replied. "But from what I heard, he's one of the best pilots in the air, despite being a fat, lazy slob."

"What the— Hey, I heard that, wiseguy!" shouted Baloo's voice on the radio, sounding irritated.

The bear jumped, suddenly realizing that his thumb was holding down the talk button on the microphone.

"Oops!" he yelped. "Sorry about that, Baloo…. You weren't supposed to hear that." he then turned serious. "What's the mayday?"

"Pirates on my tail, man!" Baloo growled. "And engine one is shot!"

The bear groaned. A shot engine is never good news, it severely limits the pilot's options for an escape maneuver.

"What's your coordinate, Sea Duck?"

The bear and Chris heard Baloo repeat the question and then they heard a young boy's voice respond: "Eight miles south-west of Cape Suzette—Baloo, WATCH OUT!"

And the radio went silent as the transmission was cut off.

Chris quickly located and marked the coordinate on the map. "Turn right, fly straight and we should be there in ten minutes. Dad...? Dad….?"

The bear sat frozen in his seat, a look of shock on his face. "Was that….? The boy's voice sounds similar to Chris', but a shade deeper..."

"DAD!" Chris yelled in his ear.

Startled, the Dad dropped the microphone. "Wh-what?"

"Turn right and fly that way," Chris said, pointing at the passenger side door. "but it's a ten-minute flight."

"But by then, it may be too late." the Dad said, then he frowned with renewed focus. "No, we'll make it there in ten seconds! Chris, get in the safe room and fastened yourself tightly to your seat."

"Yes sir!" Chris said with a salute. He unbuckled himself and jumped down from his seat. Then he reached down and pulled open a trapdoor in the floor. He lowered himself through the hole and climbed down, closing the door over himself. After a few moment, Chris' voice came over the radio: "I'm secured."

The bear steered the plane into the direction Chris had indicated, then braced himself in his seat and reached up and pressed the big red button over his head.

Suddenly, a tremendous G-force was against him, pressing him hard into his chair, the world around him became a whirlwind of blurred colors and shapes. The plane was now traveling at near-warp speed.

"...Eight….Nine….." The bear counted as he struggled to raise his arm to press the button again."TEN!" He manages to press the button, and suddenly he found himself in the middle of an aerial dogfight.

A squadron of CT-thirty-seven fighters, led by Don Karnage, were flying around like bees and sending bullets raining down upon the yellow cargo plane, which performed some amazing evading maneuvers despite losing one engine. Too focused on their prey, the pirates didn't even notice the newcomer.

"Okay..." the bear said, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes. "Speed, I am speed." he said, focusing as the sound of gunfire pounded in his head. "I'm faster than fast, quicker than quick. I am... Matthew Cloudkicker!" He kicked the plane into full throttle and went charging in through the squadron of Air Pirates, like a bullet!

The pirates let out cries of shock and surprise before the full impact of the appearance of the red Conwing L-sixteen hit them. It had flown past them so fast, that they were caught in the trail of its' shock wave, causing their engines to fail.

Don Karnage paused, noticing that his engine failed. He gulped and said in a higher voice than usual, his ears dropping: "Mama… WAH-AAAHHH...!" he screamed as his plane and the planes of his fellows with him, dropped like stones from the sky, landing with loud splashes in the sea below.

Matthew watched with satisfaction as the Air Pirate threat was swiftly neutralized, then he pulled the throttle back more than halfway, returning to normal speed.

"Whew! Now that that's outta the way…" Matthew said, picking up the microphone. "Baloo, you need to make an emergency landing. I'll see if I can fix the engine for you."

"You will? Aw thanks, man! You're a lifesaver!" cried a grateful Baloo.

The _Sea Duck_ begin to descend upon one of the many scattered islands in the area, and landed. The _McQueen_ landed some distant away.

Matthew got up out of his seat just as the trapdoor opened and Chris stuck his head out.

"Is it safe to come out now?" he asked.

"Yes, but leave all of your devices down there, including your phone." Matthew said as he opened a locker in the cargo hold and withdrew a toolbox.

"Aw, but why?" Chris asked, extremely reluctant to be separated from his precious electronics.

"One," Matthew said, closing the locker door and then holding up one finger. "They're useless to you here, none of them work."

"My tablet still work..." Chris said, holding up his tablet, which had a game of solitaire playing.

"Okay, so you can play games you've already downloaded on it, but you still can't let anyone in this world see it. It would upset the world order if anyone were to discover such a futuristic device."

With a show of great reluctant, Chris placed all of his electronics, his tablet, his video game handheld device and his iPhone into his backpack and lowered the backpack into the trapdoor in the floor.

After the backpack was safely inside the safe room underneath the cockpit. Matthew took out his own iPhone and dropped it on top of the backpack, then closed the door and then padlocked it.

"DADDDD!" Chris protested, as if Matthew had just padlocked his beloved pet.

"Relax, son, I'm just making sure you won't be tempted." Matthew said. "People of this era are not ready for such things." He picked up his toolbox again and opened the loading bay doors at the back of the plane and walking out.

As Matthew and Chris approach the _Sea Duck,_ engine one still smoking, the door to pilot side opened and there stood Baloo with a bear cub sitting on his shoulders, holding a fire extinguisher. As Baloo stepped out of the plane, the boy climbed up stand on Baloo's shoulders before jumping onto the roof of the plane, spraying the engine with the fire extinguisher until it quit smoking

The boy wore a sweatshirt identical to Chris', though his was an olive green color instead of French sky blue. He was also wearing a blue baseball cap with a red brim, which he wore backward and his fur was a sienna color.

"Hey-hey!" Baloo called good-naturedly as they approached, clapping Matthew on the shoulder. "Thanks for yer help, Ya really saved our necks back there."

"No problem," Matthew said, patting Baloo on the shoulder. "I'm sure you would've done the same for me."

"You bet yer fur, I would!" Baloo declared, then he bent down and patted Chris on top of the head, who stood shyly at Matthew's side, but did not draw away from Baloo's touch. "And who's this little guy?"

"This is my son," Matthew said, then he nudged Chris. "Go on, son, introduce yourself."

"Hi, Mr. Baloo, I'm Chris." Chris said, holding out a hand, which Baloo shook.

"Drop da formality, kid, just call me Baloo." Baloo then cupped a hand to the side of his mouth and called: "Kit, hey Kit!"

Baloo did not see it, but Matthew and Chris' ears twitched at the sound of the name, each struggling to hold in their excitement. At long last, they would be reunited with Kit after so many years of looking for him.

Kit stood on the edge of the _Sea Duck's_ wing like a diver about to dive from a diving board. "Yeah, Baloo?"

"Come down and meet our rescuers, Matthew…..and Chris." Baloo said, gesturing at each of them as he said their names.

"Coming, Papa Bear." Kit leapt down from the wing, landing on his feet with such grace, that it amazed Matthew and Chris. Kit did not so much as stumble on landing. "Hi, I'm Kit, Kit Cloudkicker." he said shaking hands with Chris and then Matthew. "Thanks for saving us back there."

Matthew manages to keep his emotions in check, as a result of his past military training. But Chris, he could tell, was close to breaking point "No problem, Kit, I was glad to do it. Well, let's take a look at that engine of yours. C'mon, Chris, you can help me."

"Wah-what? Oh, sure, okay…." Chris said, who was undergoing some painful internal struggle. He wanted to cry with joy and swing his arms around Kit, but was restraining himself with difficulty, as he didn't want to scare Kit away. Perhaps his Dad sensed that, that's probably why he asked him to help him with the engine.

They walked over to the _Sea Duck,_ Matthew gave Chris his toolbox and Chris took hold of it as his Dad lifted him up and set him on top of the wing before climbing up onto the wing himself.

"Thanks, Dad." Chris whispered. "I was about to throw myself onto him."

Matthew gave a sympathetic and understanding smile. "Yes, I know, I was feeling the same temptation. As hard as this is, we must be patient and take it slow. We don't want to scare him."

"I know, Dad. that's why I tried so hard not to throw myself onto him and hug him." Chris said, wiping his eyes on his sleeves, as they begin to produce tears.

"I'm proud of you, son." Matthew said kindly, patting Chris on the shoulder, who threw himself onto Matthew, burying his face in his leather jacket. "Don't worry, in time we'll reveal ourselves to him, but we'll do it slowly and gently"

"I understand, Dad, but it's going to be so h-hard." Chris said tearfully, and Matthew held him in a consoling hug and planted a kiss on top of his head.

There was no need to say any more, Matthew just sat there on the wing, hugging his son comfortingly. He knew how Chris must be feeling. They've spent most of his life looking for his brother, traveling to many places and worlds in process. And now that they've found him, it must be exceptionally hard not to show his joy at their reunion.

"Now, why don't you go and spend some time with them, get to know 'em, while I work on this engine." Matthew suggested after Chris had recovered.

"Okay, Dad. I hope I can get through this without spilling the beans." Chris said, as he prepared to climb down from the wing.

Matthew meanwhile, was opening engine one and was shocked by what he saw.

"What the—? Who in blue blazes does engine repairs like this?!" he cried in outrage.

"What's wrong, Dad?" Chris asked, coming back for a closer look. When he saw the engine, he could not help himself, he burst out laughing. "Y-yeah. I see…." he pause in his speech as the laughter overtook him for a moment. "I see what you…." He doubled over and slapped his leg, laughing. "...what you mean."

Matthew frowned as a fit of laughter overtook Chris again and this time, he was holding his ribs while rolling around on the wing.

"It's not _that_ funny…" he muttered, pinning a lantern to the open hood of the engine.

"It is to me!" Chris gasped, still rolling around on the wing, laughing his head off. "I mean, who-hoo-hoo-hoo would've thought to-to-to-to do engine re-re-repairs with…." Chris couldn't continue, he slapped his leg again and his laughing fit continued.

"...With paper clips and pieces of chewing gum?" Matthew finished the sentence for him, not at all amused. "An idiot, that's who! This is no way to fix an engine. Now this is going to take a lot longer to work on than I thought. I thought I was only dealing with a shot engine, Not even close, now I have to undo all of this…. _MESS_ before I can make all the proper repairs and the fix whatever that bullet hit."

At the sound of his Dad's irritated voice, Chris stopped laughing at once. He looked apprehensively at his Dad as he stood up and turned to Chris.

"This is going to take all night, I think it's best to get those two and you to Louie's Place, you can stay the night there." Matthew said as he hopped off the wing and walked over to Baloo to explain the situation.

"...So, you'll have to spend the night at Louie's." Matthew finished. "I'll fly there in the _McQueen_ and fly back here to tend to your plane."

"I guess that'll work, Louie's is closer." Baloo said, looking down at Kit.

"Yeah, and we can call Miz Cunningham from there and let her know what happened." Kit said, agreeing with this course of action.

Chris ran ahead of them to the _McQueen_ and Kit ran after him. Baloo and Matthew followed as a walk, walking side-by-side.

"Your flying was amazing back there," Matthew said as they walked. "One of two engines shot and you were still able to make some amazing evading maneuvers!"

"I fly my best when I got someone ta protect," Baloo said.

"You mean Kit?" Matthew questioned.

"Well yeah, he and I've become the closest of pals after all we've been through together." Baloo said, smiling fondly at the memory of their many adventures. "He's a special kid. You won't find another one like him Don't know what I'd do without him.."

"Pals? You're just friends? Not father and son or anything?" Matthew asked."You didn't adopt him or anything?"

"Well… that's all detail stuff. Me, I'm the big picture kinda guy." Baloo said, shrugging.

Matthew paused, thinking for a moment and then said: "How did you two first met?"

"He literally bumped into me at Louie's while on the run from Karnage, knocked me down, clear across the stage." Baloo recounted. "After that, I found him hitchhiking on my plane, hanging outside my window!"

Matthew frowned. "Sounds dangerous."

"It was, but I was taking off at the time, I didn't notice him running after me until he was hanging on the outside of the window." Baloo said. "It was either me or da Pirates. He picked me."

"Sounds like he struck gold with you as his choice." Matthew said, smiling.

"Yeah, he an' me, best friends through thick and thin, he's also my navigator, would be lost every time without him."

"So he is the friend that helps you function in your job." Matthew summarized dryly.

"Yeah, but enough about me an' Kit, tell me about you." Baloo said.

"Me?" Matthew blinked, and then he stared up at the sky, looking thoughtful. "Hmm…. Where to start?"

"How about telling me where you learned ta fly at high speed like that." Baloo suggested.

"Oh, you saw that?"

"Yeah, you flew through those pirates so fast, ya caused their engines to fail with that shockwave you created with yer speed." Baloo said, looking at Matthew with admiration.

"Well, I was a circus pilot in my late teens and after that, I served as a fighter pilot in the Great War." Matthew fished in his chest pocket and pulled out his Medal of Honor and showed it to Baloo.

"You fought in da Great War?" Baloo said, stopping dead in his tracks.

"Yes, I did," said Matthew, also stopping.

"Hey, me too!" Baloo said. "Who did ya served under?"

"Oh, um, I believe it was General Zaslove." Matthew said thoughtfully. "I was a squadron captain."

"Zaslove? Oh man, you and I both served under the two most legendary figures of the Great War!" Baloo said excitedly. "I served under General Magon, and man, was he strict!

"Hey," Kit called from the plane, standing on the loading bay door beside Chris. "Are you two going to stand around and talk all night, or are we going to Louie's?"

"I've heard of Magon," Matthew said as if there has been no interruption, but continuing to walk towards the McQueen. "He was known for his strictness, but he was also known for getting the job done. He never cut corners."

"Yeah, he never did cut me any slacks either.." Baloo said. "But in the end, it was thanks to him that I'm the pilot that I am today."

"And General Zaslove is the reason I'm not afraid to push speed to the limit," Matthew said, grinning nostalgically. "In a battle, you want to be faster than fast, so fast that you can catch the enemy in your aircraft's shockwave and cause their engines to fail, thus neutralizing them without firing a single shot. Saves the supply of bullets that way."

"Like you did with those Pirates?" Baloo said, stopping to admire the McQueen.

"Yeah, but my way of flying is not for everyone. You see, it's very easy to lose control of speed, if you're not careful…." Matthew made a throat-cutting motion with his hand, drawing a finger across his neck to indicate death. "I was trained to manage speed without ever losing control. Very few had mastered the use of speed as I had. Whether you're using speed in an aircraft or in a racecar, you misuse speed for even a second, you're at risk of losing control and that loss of control will most likely lead to crashes, wrecks and even death. Speed is not a toy, it shouldn't be played with."

"Yeah, I know." Baloo said, looking back at the _Sea Duck._ "I used to have a turbo boost in my plane, called Overdrive. It triples the normal maximum speed. I could just barely control that kinda speed. But Overdrive had its' drawbacks; if you use too long and the engines will overheat and it's boom-boom bye-bye."

"Interesting, do you still have it?" asked Matthew as they walked into the plane from the back loading bay entrance.

Baloo shook his head. "Nope, I burned it out and it couldn't be repaired, so they removed it."

"Oh…. what a shame, that would've helped you get away from the Pirates today, at least."

"Yeah, it would've." Baloo agreed. "But the boss lady says getting a new one was too expensive."

Matthew went into the cockpit and found Kit admiring the controls with awe.

"Wow, you could tell this plane was built for speed!" Kit was saying. "Just look at all these speed-control dials and buttons!"

"Yeah!" said Chris. "We're always flying at low throttle because low throttle for this plane is maximum speed for most other planes. And the _McQueen_ can go even faster than that, see that big red button up there?" he pointed at a button above the pilot seat. "If you press it while in-flight, you'll go lightning fast! And trips that normally take hours turn into minutes and minutes turn into seconds!"

"WOW!" gasped Kit in awe, and Chris looked pleased with himself for impressing Kit.

"Oh, hi Dad!" Chris said, noticing the arrival of his father and Baloo. "Just showing Kit around."

Baloo stepped into the cockpit after Matthew and gave a long, impressed whistle as he looked around the cockpit with admiration.

"Man, oh man, this baby's a beauty." Baloo said. "And I like the new-looking black leather seats!" He added, going over and sitting in down in Chris' usual seat.

"Um, Mr. Baloo, that's my…" Chris started to say, he was rather fond of his seat and did not really want to share it.

"It's okay, Chris," Matthew said as he seated himself in the pilot's seat and then lifted Chris up and set him in his lap. "You can fly us to Louie's."

Chris looked delighted about that and forgot all about Baloo stealing his spot in the cockpit, which is exactly what Matthew wanted.

"Oh wow, really?!" Chris exclaimed happily and then he gripped the control yoke as Matthew started the engines.

Kit sat in Baloo's lap and pressed his face against the passenger-side window to watch as the right engine propeller as it started spinning. He noticed the engines sounded smoother than the Sea Duck's.

"Listen to those engines, Papa Bear!" Kit said excitedly. "They sound beautiful, like music to my ears!"

"Hey, you're right, Lil' Britches," Baloo said as he listened to the engines too. "Say, Matt. where did ya get these engines?"

"Huh? Oh, I didn't get 'em, I made them."

Kit and Baloo's jaws drop to the floor!

"No way, you got probably the best engines in the entire world and you made them?" said Kit in astonishment.

"Yep!" Matthew said proudly. "I found this plane as a wreckage in the junkyard. Took nearly six months to restore it, but I had to create my own set of engines, as they removed the engines before they threw the plane into the junkyard."

"Of all the plane wreckage you could have found, you picked a Conwing L-sixteen?" Kit said, more amazed still.

"Yep!" Matthew said again."I thought it was a shame they discontinued such a classic plane, there are only three Conwing L-sixteens left in the world and they were all already owned by others, so I found this one and restored it myself. It took forever to get the wings, the tails and the pontoons back into shape, but I got there in the end.."

"Why only three?" Kit asked. "I thought there were a whole fleet of them!"

"At one time, there were, Lil Britches." Baloo said sadly. "But sadly, most of the Conwing L-sixteens were lost in the Great War, They were cargo planes, innocent cargo planes mistaken for an enemy plane. And most were flown by less gifted pilots. After so many of them shot down, there's only three left, four if you count this restored plane."

"That's terrible!" exclaimed Chris from his position on Matthew's lap, still holding the control yoke.

"War is terrible, Chris, casualties are to be expected in a war, which is why many would prefer to avoid war." Matthew said sadly. "But there are times when war is unavoidable, especially when you have a foreign dictator who's bent on world-domination and had declared war on your country."

"Say, Matt, are you really gonna let yer kid fly yer plane?" Baloo asked skeptically.

"Sure, he'd flown this plane before, he knows what to do." Matthew said, rubbing Chris' head fondly. "But always under my supervision. Take us away, Chris!"

Chris looked focused as he pressed buttons here and there, flipped a few switches and turned a few knobs

"Started the engines, adjusted the flaps… set the trims...and everything else, we're ready!" Chris said, pushing the throttle forward just a little way up. The _McQueen_ rolled across the ground at gathering speed. Once they were going fast enough, Chris pulled back on the control yoke slowly. "...and lift off!" he said as the plane lifted off the ground and begin to climb up into the air.

"A very fine takeoff that was!" Matthew shouted with pride, ruffling his son's hair. Chris giggled as his hair was ruffled.

"Wow…." Baloo said in awe. "I've never seen a finer takeoff from a kid. You'll make great pilot, Chris."

"Ahem…." Kit said with his arms crossed, glaring up at Baloo.

"...and so will you, Lil Britches." Baloo said hastily. But unable to help himself, he asked: "How long have he been flying?"

"Eh, I started letting him take the wheel since he was seven." Matthew said. "His earlier takeoffs weren't very smooth like this one. Sometimes, he'd forget to set the trims or take off without adjusting the flaps. Other times he'd forgot to draw up the landing gears, leaving them hanging down for the majority of the flight…." He said the last line in a rather pointed way.

Chris gasped. "Oh, shoot! I knew I was forgetting something!" he said, hastily flipping the landing gear switch, so that the wheels under the plane folded and withdrew into the belly of the plane, its' flap doors closing.

"Very good, Chris, that was good take off." Matthew said encouragingly, patting Chris on the head. "Now, give it a little more throttle so we'd go a little faster.

"Aye, aye, Captain Dad!" Chris said with a playful salute, then he reached over and pushed the throttle two or three inches forward, increasing their current speed by twenty percent.

"Wow, this much speed with so little throttle!" Baloo exclaimed, impressed. "Three hundred miles per hour, That's about…." he paused, struggling to do the math in his head.

"Don't hurt yourself, Papa Bear." Kit advised with a chuckle. "Three hundred miles per hour is about sixty-eight percent of the _Sea Duck_ 's maximum speed of four hundred and forty-three miles per hour."

Matthew whistled in amazement at Kit's math skills. "Wow, that's advanced math there, kid."

Baloo chuckled: "Ya have his teacher and ol' Becky ta thank for that. They really worked poor Kit to the bone!"

"Becky?" Matthew questioned as Chris continues to fly the plane.

"He means our boss, Rebecca Cunningham." Kit explained. "So, what's the maximum speed of the _McQueen_?"

"It's exactly double the _Sea Duck_ 's maximum speed." Matthew said.

"Whoa! That's eight hundred and eighty-six miles per hour!" Kit exclaimed in amazement. "This is the fastest plane ever!"

"Yep." Matthew said, patting the dashboard fondly. "And this set of engines are one of a kind, I made them myself and I never released them to the public. They are for my use only. Maybe when I go back to the _Sea Duck_ later, I'll improve the engines and increase the maximum speed. Although I can only promise you a maximum speed of five hundred, any faster than that, I'd have to make another set of _McQueen_ engines for the _Sea Duck._ "

"Would ya?" Baloo asked hopefully.

"Sure," Matthew said, taking out a notepad and pen from his pocket, he wrote down a number, tore off the paper and handed it to Baloo. "That is, if you're willing to pay that much for them."

Baloo took the paper and stared at the number, his face was that of the saddest bear you have ever seen, his ears drooping. Kit craned his neck to look at the paper in Baloo's hand, when he saw the number, he gave a long, shocked whistle.

"Whoa! Why that much, Matthew?" Kit asked.

Matthew inwardly cringed at being called Matthew by Kit, but recovered himself. "Because of all the hard-to-find parts to make them. The harder an object is to find, the more rare they are, the higher their price, thus that price." he explained, gesturing to the note in Baloo's hand.

Baloo chuckled nervously as he crumpled up the paper and tossed the paper over his shoulder. With amazing reflexes, Matthew caught the paper in his hand like a frog catching a fly.

"Please, no littering in my plane." Matthew said firmly, putting the balled-up paper in his pocket.

For the first time, Baloo and Kit noticed how clean and sparkly the cockpit was, so clean and new-looking, you'd thought this was the first time the McQueen had left the factory! The cockpit even had the smell of a brand-new car.

"Don't worry, Dad is not a clean 'n neat freak, he's only like that with things that are important to him." Chris said, noticing Kit sliding a finger across the dashboard and seemed surprised by its' lack of dust, not even a speck! "Which why the _McQueen_ and I are the cleanest things in our hangar."

"Anyway," Matthew said, looking towards Kit and Baloo as Chris continues to pilot the plane. "Tell me about how you two came to be partners, what's your story?"

During the next half hour, Kit and Baloo explained how they met, how they came to be working for Higher for Hire and how they teamed up against Don Karnage for the first time.

"Wow, this Rebecca sounds like a smart woman. Just cover your plane in rubber to repel the lightning from the Lightning Gun," Matthew said, sounding impressed. "I wouldn't have thought of that. I would've thought 'If I move fast enough, I can avoid getting hit by it', but her way works too, I supposed."

"I can see Louie's," Chris announced as the island where Louie's establishment was located came into view in the horizon. "Can I do the landing this time, Dad? Can I, can I?" he begged with puppy dog eyes.

"Oh…" Matthew said, appearing to be reluctant and slowly giving in. "Oh, alright. But no landing gears this time, this a water-landing, not a ground-landing. All you need are the pontoons for this."

"Did he make a water-landing with the landing gears down before?" Baloo asked.

"Yes he did," Matthew said. "Not only did it do damage to the landing gears, we were flipped nose-first in the water."

Chris seems to have shrunk a few inches as his Dad told this story and gave a feeble mutter of: "Hey, I was eight!"

Chris then reached for the throttle, pulling back, slowing down the plane and then pushing the control yoke forward, he begin the descent Soon the belly of the plane touch the surface of the water. The landing wasn't perfect, they bumped up and down on the water a few times before sliding across the surface of the water. It wasn't perfect, but it was passable.

"That was a pretty good landing, Chris." Matthew said encouragingly. "Wasn't it, guys?"

Baloo was slumped his seat, his pilot cap ashew and he appeared dazed. "Ohh-ohh, ask me again when my back's back in order…."

To this, Chris appeared disheartened, and Kit took note of that and tried to cheer him up a bit.

"It was a good landing, Chris," Kit said. "It wasn't the best landing, but it wasn't the worse. You should've seen Baloo's C-minus landing."

"Well excuse me fer makin' a bad landing while on the run from Air Pirates." Baloo muttered.

Chris gave Kit an appreciating smile. "Thanks Kit, but I know there's room for improvements in my landings."

Baloo finally took note of Chris' discouragement and knew then what Kit was trying to do.

"Hey, Chris, don't sweat it," Baloo said, patting Chris' shoulder. "Landing is the hardest part of flying, everyone has their bad days with it, even ol' Baloo from time to time."

"They're right, Chris," Matthew said, hugging Chris comfortingly. "It was a little bumpy, but you got us down in one piece and that's what matters. I do not expect perfection, I only expect you to do your best. As long as you're doing your best, I'm gonna be proud of you no matter what the outcome."

Chris smiled and hugged Matthew. "Thanks Dad."

"You're welcome," Matthew said. "Now, can you steer us to the island?"

Chris looked out towards the island and saw a few planes parked beside a series of wooden planked docks along the edge of be island.

"I think so, I'm gonna try." Chris said as he took the control yoke with renewed confidence. He steered the _McQueen_ towards the island and managed to park at the dock without any incidents.

"Very, very good." Matthew said. "This time, you did everything, take off, flying and landing. I'm gonna grade you… a B."

"A B?" Chris said. "I was hoping for an A-minus at least. But I guess a B isn't so bad."

"Yeah, it's better than a C-minus." Kit said and they both shared a laugh behind their hands at the reference to Baloo's bad landing.

Chris returned his attention to the control panels, flipping a few switches and pressing a few buttons, to turn the plane off.

The propellers stopped spinning by the time Matthew opened the pilot side door and stepped out onto the dock. He was then followed by Kit and Chris with Baloo bringing up the rear.

They made their way to Louie's Place and entered through the double doors. Louie looked up at their entrance from behind the bar.

"Well blow my horn, it's Matthew!" Louie shouted, jumping over the bar and running over to meet them. "Long time no see, coz!"

"Yeah!" Matthew said as they traded high-fives, fist-bumps, a handshake and a hip-bump. "How're ya doin', old buddy?"

"Oh, can't complain, these crazy folks keeps me as busy as a zookeeper, ya know?" Louie then caught sight of Chris. "Well I'll be a monkey's uncle…. Is dat you, Chris?" he said, striding over to Chris and picking him up by his armpits, and just held him up, as if trying to guess his weight. "How did ya get so big?"

"Um, I grew...?" Chris said, unnerved at being picked up by a person he barely even knew. "Um, could you put me down?"

"Oh, you forgot ol' Louie?" Louie asked as he set Chris back down. "Can't say I blame ya, you were just a little toddler the last time we met."

"I...guess I was…?" Chris said, looking up at his father for confirmation.

Matthew nodded. "You two were big buddies back then, you even called him 'Unca Louie', that was so cute."

"Dad…." Chris muttered, blushing and embarrassed.

"Oh sorry, son, I'm doing it again, aren't I?" Matthew said apologetically. "Well, sometimes it can't be helped. One day, if you're lucky enough to become a Dad, you'll understand how hard it is not to talk about your son or daughter's youthful beginnings."

"Yeah, but hopefully I can refrain from doing so in public." Chris said, still blushing.

"Anyway," Matthew said, turning back to Louie. "Baloo's plane was shot down earlier and I brought him and Kit with us, so they can stay here while I go back and fix it for him."

"Sure, coz, that's fine." Louie said as leapt over the bar and opened his inn book of guests. "I have one room left. It's a small room with small sets of twin beds. Someone like Baloo wouldn't fit in there. "

"Just one?" Matthew asked and when Louie nodded, he sighed. "Oh well, I guess Baloo can come back to the _Sea Duck_ with me. I'm going to need someone to fly it after I've fixed it anyway. How much is a room for two boys and meals?"

"A room for two kids, plus tonight's supper and tomorrow's breakfast, will ya be back before lunch?' Louie asked, while calculating a price with his cash register.

"I expect so." Matthew said. "But can't say for certain."

"No worries, coz, if they do end up having lunch here, it's on da house. Now that'll be…thirty dollars." Louie said while calculating with his cash register.

Matthew handed over the cash and turned and knelt down before Chris. "Chris, you stay here with Kit and Louie. I'll hopefully be back in the morning. Be good for Louie and listen to him, okay?"

"Okay, Dad." Chris said, putting on a brave smile before throwing his arms around his Dad's neck and hugging him.

Matthew hugged Chris and kissed him on the cheek. "See ya later, lil buddy." he stood up and left, walking towards the exit.

"Bye, Dad." Chris said, waving after him.

Baloo gave Kit a hug. "I'll be back for ya in the morning, Lil Britches."

"I know you will, Papa Bear." Kit said, hugging Baloo back. "I'll call Miz Cunningham and brief her on the situation."

"Yeah, you do that, and thanks." Baloo said, he waved a hand in farewell and left after Matthew.

With Matthew and Baloo both gone, the two bear cubs turned to Louie.

"Are ya hungry now, little cozes? I'm tryin' out a new pizza recipe." Louie said, heading into the kitchen connected to the space behind the bar.

"Sure, Louie, I can eat." Kit said.

"Yeah, me too," said Chris.

"Comin' right up!" Louie shouted from the kitchen.

Kit and Chris looked at each other as they sat side-by-side on their stools.

"So, you can fly." Kit said. "Since you were seven…." his voice was casual and friendly with a hint of jealousy.

Chris nodded. "But I can only fly when my Dad is there with me."

"I wish Baloo would let me fly like your Dad does." Kit said. "Where are you from anyway?"

"Oh...um…." Chris didn't really know this world well enough to give Kit an answer. Finally he gave Kit the name of one town he heard from his Dad when he refers to this world. "Freeport, I'm from Freeport."

Kit looked surprised. "Wow, Freeport is where I spent my early years at. Are we related?"

Chris was looking uncomfortable, he wanted to scream "YES!", but his Dad wanted Kit to figure it out on his own for some reason.

"We might be…. why'd you ask?" Chris finally said.

"Well, we're all bears, for starters, and you're wearing a sweatshirt similar to mine." Kit said, picking at the sleeve of Chris' French sky-blue sweatshirt. "And we both love planes."

"So does everyone else in Freeport." Chris said, looking nervous.

"Yeah, I guess that's true. Freeport was largely a hangar town, most people there owned a plane or wanted one." Kit said, he frowned, focusing on Chris' features. "But you look too similar to me for us not to be related..."

Kit was so close to the truth, Chris was feeling the pressure and then he was rescued by the reappearance of Louie.

"Here ya are!" Louie said, laying a round pizza down in front of them. The toppings was ham and some kind of yellow cubes.

"Wow, this looks good, Louie, what is it?" Kit asked, completely distracted from Chris. Chris breathed a breath of relief. He did not know how much longer he can keep this up.

"Oh, it's just a little ham and pineapple pizza." Louie said. "How is it? C'mon now, be brutal."

Both Kit and Chris each picked up a slice and took their first bite. Their eyes opened wide with delight as they devoured the rest of the slice and picked up another.

"Well?" Louie prompted them. "How is it?"

"It's good!" cried Kit and Chris in unison with their mouths full.

"I love it!" Chris added, taking another bite.

Louie chuckled. "Well I'm glad ya like it! Might have to add it to menu."

"Please do!" said Kit as he ate.

Louie then gave them both a cola in coconut-styled mugs.

"Thanks, Louie!" Kit said, taking a sip of his drink.

"Yeah, thanks!" echoed Chris, also taking a sip.

"Now then!" Louie said as the two bear cubs finished their pizza and drink. "Yer Daddy," he pointed at Chris. "Had already paid for you two to have a room for the night and breakfast." He then got out a notepad and pen. "So, what would ya like for breakfast?"

"Well, I like big old fashion breakfasts." Chris said. "With scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, a biscuit covered in white gravy and a side of pancake."

"Alrighty." Louie said, dotting down Chris' order, then he turned to Kit. "And what will you have, short stuff?"

Kit gave Chris a surprised look. "How are you not fat or chubby with a big breakfast like that?" he asked, giving Chris a playful poke in the belly.

Chris giggled from the poke to his belly. "Simple, I burn the calories by working out and jogging sometime after breakfast and before lunch. If I have a big breakfast, I usually eat a smaller lunch. You eat as much as you want just as long as you can burn the calories faster than you put 'em in."

"Baloo could take lessons from you," Kit said.

"Fat chance, short stuff," Louie said, polishing a glass with a washcloth behind the bar. "There's no helping that bear, not when he's used to eating ten sundaes a day while his tab keep going up higher and higher. That reminds me…." Louie said, taking out his book of tab records. "His tab has already exceeded well past the no-service line with five thousand dollars."

"Five thousand?!" Kit gasped, but not altogether shocked, he always knew Baloo had a high tab, just not _that_ high.

"Yeah, I usually stop serving ya at one thousand dollars, but since Baloo's an old friend o' mine, I let it slide." Louie said. "But I guess it's time for me to stop slidin'."

"How in the world does anyone run a tab up that high?" Chris asked in shock.

"All those sundaes, ice cream, food service and refueling service," Louie said, closing the book of tab records. "They all add up, coz."

"Well what's Mr. Baloo's been doing with his paychecks if he's that high in the tabs?" Chris asked.

"Checks? Baloo doesn't have a bank account, not since the bank sold the _Sea Duck_ and his business to Miz Cunningham," Kit said "She pays him in cash, and then he puts it in a hidden safe, he's saving it up to buy the _Sea Duck_ back. That reminds me… Louie, can I borrow your phone?"

"Sure coz, help yerself." Louie said. "But it'll cost you fifteen cent to call long distance."

Kit fished into his pocket and pulled out some small loose changes, the kind of changes you'd find in under the couch cushions after your Dad's been napping on it.

Chris saw that Kit had a dime and couple of pennies.

"Uh, all I have is twelve cents…."

"Then I guess I'll just have ta put three cents on your tab."

"Wait," Chris said, he put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a dollar bill. "Do you have changes for a dollar?"

"I sure do, coz!" Louie said, snatching the dollar and tossing Chris four quarters.

Chris caught the quarters with a word of thanks and then turned to Kit and handed him one of the quarters. "Here, Kit."

"But that's your money, I couldn't take it." Kit said.

"Sure you can, I want you to." Chris insisted

"You sure?"

"Yes, now take it." Chris said firmly.

Kit accepted the money from Chris and gave Louie the one quarter.

"Fifteen cent out of twenty-five?" Louie said, taking the quarter from Kit and replacing it with a dime. "Ten cent's your change/."

"Thanks." Kit said, and then hurried over to a phone that hung on the wall and took the earpiece and put it to his ear and spoke into the mouthpiece protruding from the wooden box. "Get me Higher for Hire in Cape Suzette."

" _That's_ a phone?" Chris said in surprise. "It looks so ancient…." he said, mentally comparing this wooden box with a mouthpiece and a wired earpiece with his iPhone. Now he can see why people in this world would consider his iPhone futuristic, even alien! He can now see why his Dad had locked away his stuff.

"Ancient? Of course it is, I got it twenty years ago." Louie said. "Here, have a sundae, on the house." he said, setting a coconut shell bowl of ice cream down in front of him.

"Oh, gee, thanks!" Chris said, taking a spoon and beginning to eat. He was halfway finished before Kit came back from his telephone call.

"Miz Cunningham was glad we're okay, and she said she is grateful to your Dad for helping us out." Kit said as he sat down next to Chris and was presented with a bowl of ice cream from Louie. "Thanks Louie. And she said she's glad we didn't lose our cargo. Better late than stolen or lost, she said. Now she can call the client and tell them that the shipment was delayed due to Air Pirate attack."

"I'm glad she's not mad or anything." Chris said.

"Oh, she's mad, just not at me." Kit said, grinning. "She rarely get mad at me, I'm protected by my age. She can rage and scream at Baloo all she wants, but she feels she shouldn't give me the same treatment because of my age."

"Maybe she feels more of your mother than your boss." Chris suggested. "That could be a factor in it."

"It… could be…" Kit agreed thoughtfully. "And I wouldn't mind that. She's a good mother to Molly."

"Who?"

"Miz Cunningham's six-year-old daughter. She's a real bundle of energy." Kit said. "She's a handful but she means well."

"Ah, cool," Chris said.

After that, they proceeded to eat and finish their ice cream. When they had finished, they both stretched their arms, letting out huge yawns at the same time.

Louie chuckled, watching the two cubs, noticing how they stretched and yawn in the same way as the other. "Ya know, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you two were brothers!"

Chris cringed at the painful reminder that Kit was his brother and Kit was supposed to figure that out on his own. Chris couldn't tell him directly, but maybe clues like this would help Kit solve the puzzle sooner.

Kit looked sideways at Chris, giving him a calculating look. Then he gave a smile. "It would be neat to have a brother like you."

Chris smiled weakly, at least he was comforted by the fact that Kit thought the idea of them being brothers was neat. For him, it was a start.

"Well, it's time to take you two young'uns to yer room." Louie said, grabbing the support beam of the bar and swinging over the bar. "Oh, Kit, before I forget, what's yer order for breakfast? I've get Chris' down for scrambled egg, bacon, sausage, biscuit 'n gravy and a side o' pancake. What would ya like?"

"Me? Well, I usually eat a lighter breakfast of cereal... but I guess I'd have the same thing Chris ordered." Kit said after consideration.

"Alright," Louie said, adding Kit's name to Chris' order before putting his notepad away. "Follow me." he said, leading them outside. Once outside, Louie led them uphill towards a series of small one-room Hawaiian-style shacks. Reaching the shack with a number twelve on the door, Louie stopped and turned to the two cubs. "Here we are," he said, giving Kit the key. "Hope you like the room, number twelve is actually the best room I can offer." he gave a huge yawn. "Well, I'm turning in for da night. G'night, short stuffs." and he begin to walk back towards the club.

Kit inserted the key in the keyhole and opened the door. It was a simple room with two twin beds and a nightstand between the two beds, on top of the nightstand was a radio. A window overlooking the beautiful island, beach and ocean between the two beds, over the nightstand.

Kit went and sat on a bed and Chris went and sat on the remaining bed.

"Chris?" Kit said after a long moment. "Are you my brother?"

"Wh-what?" Chris said nervously. Inside him, a suppressed joy was fighting to get out of him. He had finally asked the question!

"Are you my brother?" Kit repeated "Or are you my cousin? We're too alike not to be related. You got my ears, my nose and my mouth. The only things you don't have is my fur color and my eyes. And you wear the same type of sweatshirt as me."

Chris sighed, admitting defeat, he couldn't keep this up any longer, it was too painful for him. Looking up with tear-filled eyes. "Dad said to let you figure it out on your own, but…" he started to cry. "I-I c-c-can't take it anymore! Yes, Kit, I'm your brother!"

Kit bounded off his bed, dashed over to Chris and swung his arms around him.

For a moment, they sat there, Chris sobbing, Kit holding him in a comforting embrace. Finally, Chris regained control of himself and hugged Kit back.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Kit asked as the broke apart, speaking in a gentle voice.

"I wanted to, but Dad didn't want to overwhelm you with the knowledge." Chris said. "H-he wanted to take it slow, give you time to get to know us first."

"Wait a minute…. if he's your Dad and you're my brother, then that makes him MY Dad." Kit was glad to be sitting down at that moment, his legs wouldn't have supported him after that realization.

"Yeah," Chris said, noticing how overwhelmed Kit seems at realizing who his Dad was, and could now see why his father wanted to take it slow with Kit. "But think, how would you feel if we told you right away and said: 'Hello, Kit! We're your father and brother! So nice to meet you!'?" he said, imitating a bright and cheery voice.

"I….I'd probably run, thinking you two were creeps trying to kidnap me or something." Kit said after much thought.

"Exactly," Chris said, nodding. "Dad knew you'd take it like that, and he didn't want you to feel or think like that. Besides, it would hurt us too bad to see you run from us after all those years we've spent looking for you."

"You were looking for me?" Kit asked. "And you've only just now found me?"

"You have no idea how many places we've looked, trust me, we've combed the entire world and beyond, looking for you. We've looked in every city, town and village in every country we could think of! It was like looking for a needle in a haystack." Chris' eyes filled with tears again, and he flung himself onto Kit and hugged him tightly. "I'm so glad we finally found you, brother!"

Kit smiled as he returned the hug and patted Chris on the back of the head. "So am I, Chris, so am I..."

Elsewhere, back at the place where the _Sea Duck_ was left, the _McQueen_ sat nearby and the loading bay doors opened up and out stepped Matthew, wearing a gray jumpsuit and holding a red tool box.

He went over to the _Sea_ _Duck_ , and saw Baloo hugging, kissing and apologizing to the plane.

"I'm so sorry, baby, but don't worry, Matt'll fix ya right up!"

"Well, let's get started." Matthew said, climbing up onto the wing and opening the engine panel. "Baloo, this is gonna take all night, so why don't you go to bed?"

"Alright, Matt, but where should I sleep?" Baloo asked.

"If you don't have beds in your cargo hold, you can sleep on the beds in the _McQueen_."

Matthew said, starting to plunk the chewing gum and paper clips out of the engine.

"Alright," Baloo yawned. "Nighty-night, Matt." he said as he made his way back to the _McQueen_. Matthew continues to remove the paper clips and gum from the engine.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Well, there you have it, the first episode of my rebooted story, what do you think?**

 **There are a few Easter eggs in this episode, let me know if you spot any of them.**

 **Allow me to explain a few things:**

 **Matthew and Chris both have twenty-first century devices, like an iPhone and tablet. Time travel? No, they've simply been to a world that was more than half a century ahead of TaleSpin's time. It's like Kingdom Hearts, they travel from world to world, each world is in its' own time frame. Think of it as an Aladdin and Tron crossover in terms of technology, one world can be in the somewhere in the early to mid-A.D. and some worlds can be in our time and some can be far ahead or behind ours. So it's other world traveling, not time travel.**

 **The safe room under the McQueen's cockpit is bulletproof and the two seats within it are gyro-stabilize, anyone sitting inside it during a dogfight or a crash, will be unable to feel anything that was going on outside it. No jerking or bumping, no vibration or violent turns, nothing, they'd be unable to feel any of that, thus Chris is in no danger of any sort of harm.**

 **The Great War? Is that World War I or World War II? Since it's in the mid-1930's, 1937 to 1938 being the most likely year the TaleSpin world takes place in, they could only have had WWI, right?" BUZZZZZ Wrong! TaleSpin's war history is different from ours, think about it, the jet engine may have been invented in 1930, but it was never put through a test flight until 1941, when the war was going on. Yet, assuming TaleSpin's world is in 1937 or 1938, one or two years before WWII even started with Germany's invasion of Poland in 1939, Baloo and Wildcat accidentally got a hold of a jet engine, having been switched with their pickles by mistake. Baloo tried to return the jet engine to Ace London, but Ace London opened fire on them, giving Baloo and Wildcat little choice but to use the jet engine. See? The course of history has already changed with Baloo giving the jet engine its' first test flight in the late 1930's.**

 **So when you talk about the Great War in TaleSpin, forget everything you know about the World Wars, *tosses the history book out the window* It all happened differently to the world of TaleSpin.**

 **Any other questions? Please post them in your reviews and I'll answer them in my next author's note at the end of each episode!**


	2. Episode Two - The Power of the Heart

**Disclaimer: I do not own TaleSpin**

* * *

 **Episode Two**

 **The Power of the Heart**

* * *

The sun begin to rise over the islands where Matthew and Baloo were located. Baloo was snoring away on the bottom bunk bed in the _McQueen_ while Matthew was hard at work on the _Sea Duck's_ engines. Both of the nacelles of the _Sea Duck_ were empty and their engines sat on top of a large blue tarp spread out on the ground near the plane. The entire two engines had been taken apart and just now been reassembled. Matthew had made all the necessary repairs along with a few tweaks to make the plane faster. He even added a better version of Overdrive, this one will work the same way as the old one did, but without the drawback of overheating the engines. It should still only be used for emergencies as it was still dangerous to use.

Matthew sweated as he tightened a few bolts with a wrench before wiping his forehead on his sleeve. He was tired, he had dark shadows under his eyes from the all-night repair and tune-up of Baloo's engines

"There, good as new!" Matthew declared as he stood back to admire his handy work. The engines no longer looked like used, patched-up engines, now they looked brand new and shiny. "Now then…. Hope I can do this before Baloo wakes up..."

He closed his eyes and focused. "May the Heart be with you…." he murmured, stretching out his hand towards one of the engines. After a moment, the engine gave a little wiggle. Matthew raised his hand up just a little, and the engine rose off the ground very slowly. As Matthew stretched out his hand, the engine hovered away from him. As he drew his hand back, it hovered back towards him. With his hand movements, he directed the engine to hover in front of one of the _Sea Duck_ 's nacelles.

Still holding his hand towards the engine, Matthew walked around the plane until he was directly in front of it. Then he stopped, facing the plane. With his hand, he made a little shoving motion, and the engine hovered backwards into the nacelle. When it was in far enough, Matthew made a halting sign with his hand and the Heart disconnected him from the engine.

"That's one down," Matthew said, looking even more tired than before. "One to go..." he raised his hand and repeated the process with the other engine. Once that was done, he fell to his knees in exhaustion. But the job wasn't finished yet. He took a moment to recover, then he stood up and picked up one of propeller and begin to reattach it to the engine. He then repeated this process with the other engine. Once that was done, he climbed onto the wing and walked towards one of the two nacelles, now containing an engine in each one. He connected the wires, cables and the fuel tube to the engine and then bolted the engine down within the nacelle. He then did the same with the other engine. Finally, it was ready for flight!

His job done, he closed up the nacelles and laid down on his back on top of the wing. "It's finally finished…." he then conked out, and fell into a deep sleep.

Meanwhile, back at Louie's Place…

Inside shack number twelve, Chris' bright blue eyes fluttered open and then he slowly sat up in his bed, yawning and stretching. Kit, being roused by his brother's movements, did likewise.

"You're up bright and early." Kit commented as he got out of bed.

"Heh-heh, yeah, I always wake up at sunup." said Chris, also getting out of bed and started doing some leg stretches. "No matter what time it is, as soon as the sun's up completely, I automatically wake up for some reason."

"Ah, you're just an early riser." said Kit. "So, since you've been looking for _me_ your whole life, you and Dad must've had a lot of adventures together."

"Yeah, more than I can count, actually." said Chris..

"Tell me about some of 'em." Kit said with an air of one expecting to hear a series of thrilling tales.

"Uhhh…" Chris said, suddenly realizing that most of his adventures with his Dad had been in other worlds and he was a bit young when he had last been here to remember any adventures he might have had in this world. And he was forbidden to talk of other worlds. Then an idea came to him. He'd tell Kit one of his off-world adventure and make it sounds as if it happened in this world. But he needed time to think the story through. "I will, but first, some breakfast." he said, pushing Kit towards the door.

"Oh, okay…." Kit said, clearly disappointed. "Let's go eat….I guess."

Louie's Place was quiet at this hour of the morning. The few people that were awake at the time, all sat at their table, finishing their breakfast, wearing the glum expressions of early morning as they sipped their coffee.

Louie himself was the only one who seems truly awake. His cheerfulness as he darts here and there in the kitchen, cooking various orders was a stark contrast of his sleepyheaded customers. He was even humming jazzy and scatty tune to himself as he worked.

"Good morning, Louie." Kit said as the two cubs approach the bar and sat in the same stools as the night before.

"Good morning, cuz!" Louie said cheerfully. "Ready for da most important meal o' da day?"

"You bet!" Chris said.

"Ha-ha, alright!" Louie shouted happily. "Hey Jim!" he called to one of his little monkey minions, who was wearing a chef hat and apron and was tending to other orders. "Get the Chris-Kit order ready."

"Yes, Mr. Louie, right away!" the monkey minion said, he looked up at the clothesline, on which many orders hung. "Got it!" he said, having located the order and took it down. "Two orders of Old Fashion, with a side of pancake for each?

"That's right, now hop to it, Sonny Jim." Louie said as he started mixing drinks for another customer.

"Yes sir!" the monkey minion said as he went over to the refrigerator and got out a few eggs, bacons and some ground beef to make sausages.

"Can I have some coffee, Louie?" asked Kit.

"Sure cuz, but uh, I didn't know you drink coffee." Louie said as he poured Kit a cup and slid it across the bar towards him.

"You drink coffee?! Yuck!" Chris exclaimed with a disgusted face, his tongue sticking out on the word 'yuck'. "That's disgusting."

Kit was drinking his coffee as Chris was saying this and Chris was amazed that Kit didn't gag or even shudder at the bitter taste. He just drank it so casually, that it was as if he drank it everyday.

"That…" Kit said, setting down his half-empty cup of coffee down on the bar. "...is a matter of opinion, Chris. Just because you don't like it doesn't mean others wouldn't like it either. Here, try it." he said, pushing his cup towards Chris. "I don't know how long it's been since you last tasted coffee, but your taste might have changed since then. Go on, try it."

Chris slowly and reluctantly picked up the cup and took his sweet time taking a sip. When he finally did take a proper sip, his face jerked away from the cup, as if he'd burnt his tongue. He wore a disgusted expression with his tongue hanging out in a 'yuck!' sort of way.

"BAH! Bitter!" Chris said, shoving the cup back at Kit. "That's disgusting!"

Kit shrugged. "To each his own." he said, taking another casual sip. "I like it."

"Here's yer orange juice, cuz." Louie said, setting down a tall glass of orange juice in front of Chris.

"Perfect timing!" Chris exclaimed, picking up the glass. "I need to get that taste of coffee out of my mouth!" and he drank it down halfway and then let out of big sigh of satisfaction. "Ahhh, that's good orange juice."

Kit looked at Chris and then at his cup of coffee. "It's not _that_ bad…." he muttered.

"Ahh, brother." Chris said, putting arm around Kit. "It is as you said: 'to each his own'""

"Order up!" shouted Jim from the kitchen, and two plates with their order appeared on the kitchen windowsill, plus two more plates of pancakes.

Louie collected the orders in his long arms and set them down in front of Kit and Chris.

"Here ya are! Now eat up before it gets cold." Louie said with a smile.

Kit and Chris had never seen a more-delicious looking breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacons, sausages and biscuits covered in gravy, Everything was masterfully cooked to perfection, one could tell that the chef had really put his heart into this meal.

"Oh wow!" exclaimed Kit. "This all look so good! Even better than cereal!"

Kit and Chris picked up their respective silverwares, Kit using a fork while Chris was using a spoon.

"You eat eggs with a spoon?" Kit asked after he had taken the first few bites of his scrambled eggs.

"Y-yeah," Chris said through a mouthful of scrambled eggs, he chewed and swallowed before adding: "Spoon's easier for me to use than a fork with scrambled eggs."

Kit shrugged and continue eating.

"Ahh…. now that's what I call a hearty breakfast!" said Chris as he and Kit both finished their breakfast. He patted his stomach. "I may need to jog an extra lap this morning, just burn all of this off."

Louie chuckled. "Well, feel free to use my entire island as yer track 'n field."

"Okay, thanks, Louie!" Chris as he hopped down from his stool and made a run for the door. Kit jumped down too and followed him.

"So, whadda we do first?" Kit asked as they arrived at the docks. "Chris?" He looked around and saw that Chris was doing the side lunge stretch.

"First," Chris said, switching sides on his side lunge stretch. "we stretch."

"Uh, okay…" Kit said as he took the same position as Chris and started doing the side lunge stretch as well. "Um, do you and Dad do these exercises together?"

"Uh-huh," Chris said, switching sides again. "Every morning, after breakfast and before going off to search for you, we'd do all of these exercises together. We even challenge each other to a foot race. But he always win." He stood up straight and started doing the side trunk stretch. "His legs are longer, so he can run faster than me."

After they have done every stretches Chris performed every morning, which finished with a hamstring stretch, they stood up and started jogging along the island. After the first lap around the island, Kit was ready to stop, but Chris just kept on jogging, so Kit just sucked it up and continued to jog.

Finally after three laps, Chris came to a stop at the dock area where they had started. He was a little sweaty and panting a little but otherwise alright.

"Ah, what a great workout, wasn't it, Kit? ...Kit?"

Chris looked around and saw that he had left Kit behind. After a moment, Kit emerged from a few yards away, walking as if he was carrying a ton-pound weight on his shoulders. His sweatshirt, baseball cap and fur were all soaked through with sweat! And he was panting like a dog on the Dog Days of Summer.

"Kit!" Chris shouted, running over to meet him. As he got close, Kit collapsed face down in the sand.

"I can't take another step!" he gasped.

When Chris reached him, he knelt down beside him. "Are you okay, Kit?"

"Y-y-yeah, gimme a minute…." Kit said, gasping and panting for breath.

"Guess you're not used to morning jogs." Chris suggested with an apologetic smile.

"Oh, I'm used to jogging….Just not a three-mile one, through an island jungle and sand. I'm more used to the city park and the school's track field. How are _you_ not out of breath and sweaty like me?" Kit asked, as his breathing gradually stabilized "

"Well, I….I've been jogging with Dad over countless different terrains, I guess that helps me." Chris said, smiling sheepishly. "I guess I've jogged through rougher terrains than this island."

"Yeah, I guess that explains it. So…." Kit said, looking up at Chris with a confident smirk. "Wanna race to see who's faster?"

Chris gave a smirk in response. "You're on, but the loser buys the winner a soda."

"Deal!" Kit said, and they shook hands on it.

They mark their start point and their finish point. At the start point, Kit and Chris both got ready to run their fastest.

"Ready to eat my dust?" Kit said with a confident smirk.

Chris smirked back at him. "I was about to ask you the same thing."

"Okay, on your mark, get set… GO!" Kit shouted.

Both bear cubs took off running at full speed. At first, Kit and Chris were shoulder to shoulder and then the next thing Chris knew, Kit was ahead of him!

"Man, he's fast!" Chris gasped in awe as he continued to run. It was clear that while Kit wasn't used to jogging through rough terrains, he was a pretty fast runner.

Kit crossed the finish line first and jumped into the air with his arms up high. "Yahoo! I won!"

Chris crossed the finish line, gasping and panting, he bent over, holding his knees while he try to catch his breath.

"You owe me a soda." Kit said happily.

"How….how did you get so fast?" Chris gasped.

"I guess I had plenty of practice from running all my life." Kit said, shrugging.

"Were you running away from things?" Chris wanted to know. "No one gets _that_ good at running unless they've ran away from things."

"Well, yeah, out on the streets, there's plenty of things to run from and you had to be fast enough not to get caught." Kit said."Those runs did help me outrun the entire Air Pirate crew once. And now, it's making me the undefeated runner in the Cape Suzette Elementary School track and field."

"Wow, that's awesome." Chris said admiringly. Then he turned serious. "How long did you lived out in the streets?"

"Oh, um…." Kit said, suddenly uncomfortable. It was clear that he was rather reluctant to tell the tale. "From the time I escaped the orphanage to the time I ran into the Air Pir—" he stopped dead, wishing he hadn't said that last part. He hit and scolded himself mentally.

"What? You ran into the Air Pirates?" Chris said in surprise. "DId they kidnap you? How long were you their prisoner? Did Baloo rescued you from them?" with each question, Chris got up closer and closer into Kit's face, until Kit was pressed against a coconut tree with their noses touching.

"Uh, yeah… Baloo did rescued me from them…." Kit said, drawing his face back away from Chris' and preferring not to answer the other questions, but Chris was persistence.

"You're avoiding my other questions, Kit." Chris said, poking him in the chest with a finger. "Answer me, did they kidnap you?"

"No…." Kit said, not meeting Chris' eyes.

"What? You got away from them?"

Kit slid down to the ground, drew his knees up and hugged them. "No…"

There was a pause and then the realization hit Chris like a ton-pound brick. "WHAT?! You went with them willingly?!"

"Yes, Chris!" Kit yelled in anger. "I was a pirate! Ya happy now?!" He then buried his face in his arms wrapped around his knees.

Chris was stunned, shocked by Kit's outburst. "You…. you were a pirate? Kit, what were you thinking?! Pirates are criminals, robbers, thieves, plunderers... "

Kit's head jerked up from his knees and he glared at Chris, who backed away.

"You think I don't know that?" Kit said in a low, fierce voice. "I knew exactly what kinds of people I was joining."

"Then why in blue blazes did you joined them, Kit?" Chris demanded.

"I…" Kit's face filled with remorse. "I stowed away in a plane, hiding in the cargo. That plane was hit by Air Pirates, and… and they found me. Karnage said I had spunk and offered me a place in the Air Pirates."

"Please tell me you refused the offer and they took you anyway…." Chris begged him.

Kit gave a hollowed laugh. "I wish, but sadly, I joined them willingly."

"Again, what were you thinking?"

"Chris, you've lived with Dad, I didn't!" Kit said in frustration, punching the ground with his fist.. "You have no idea what it's like to live out in the streets, alone, friendless, cold and hungry. I had to pickpocket and steal food just to survive. That was my life before the Air Pirate. I was thinking about survival and the lesser evil. At least with the Pirates, I was fed, given a bed and a roof over my head. I prefered that to the cold, starving nights on the streets."

There was a long silence between them, Chris stood there, looking horrified at Kit's little speech.

"Kit…" he said in a stunned voice. "You're right, I had no idea…." Chris knelt down and hugged Kit "That sounds terrible… but how in the world did you end up being the nice person you are today? Normally a kid living through all of that turns out to be a street thug who's about as nice as a Thembrian soldier!" Although Chris did not know what Thembria was, he had heard his Dad used this expression to describe a mean and cruel person.

"Eh, Sergeant Dunder's pretty nice." Kit shrugged. "For a Thembrian anyway. And this Thembrian kid, Bobo, he was nice too!"

Chris was looking at him in a way that plainly said he knew Kit was trying to steer the topic away from his past. Kit sat down on the ground and continued his story.

"I don't know, I just knew I didn't want to be like those bozos I met in the streets. But I _was_ like them, I hated it but I was every bit like them until I met Baloo," Kit looked up with a sad little smile on his face. "Meeting Baloo changed me and I wanted to be more like him than Karnage, especially after seeing him outfly the Pirates." he laughed nostalgically on the last line. "Baloo took me in as his navigator, and then later, Miz Cunningham took me on when she took over the business and I've been with them ever since.. Miz Cunningham even helped me so I could go to school. She gave me some jobs so I could earn some extra money."

Chris smiled sadly as his brother opened up to him, he sat down next to him and hugged him. "You're really lucky to have Baloo, I can tell that he really cares for you back in the plane." he then released Kit and looked sadly at the ground. "I'm going to be completely honest with you, since you were honest with me…. I-I know I told you that I would tell you about the adventures Dad and I had over the years trying to find you, but... I'm sorry, Kit, but I can't tell you anything."

"What?! Why not?" Kit cried in outrage. "You promised you'd tell me some of your adventures!"

"I...I know, but I was planning on mixing the stories up a little bit so I wouldn't be disobeying the rules." Chris said with remorse. "But since you opened up to me, I just couldn't do it, I don't want to lie to you."

"What rules?" Kit asked. "Chris, are you and Dad part of a cult? Are they holding you two against your will?"

"No! No, nothing like that, we're not into cults," Chris said, not meeting Kit's eye. "Let's just say we're like secret agents and leave it at that, at least for now. We've joined a certain group to improve our chances of finding you. You have no idea what information this group have access to. We wanted the information of your whereabout. And we joined willingly to get that information."

Kit raised his eyebrow skeptically. "They allowed kids to be agents?"

"Not….not exactly…." Chris said, looking uncomfortable, fearing he might be saying too much already. "Kids are trained and taught at the headquarters, and given practice missions. Look, I've probably said too much already, so don't ask me anymore. All I can say is that we've joined a secret group and this group wishes to remain a secret, Dad and I joined, hoping to find you on one of our missions, but those missions are top secret, so I can't tell you about my adventures "

"Wait… you just said that kids are not exactly allowed to be agents and can only go on practice missions…." Kit said slowly. "How are _you_ allowed to go on real missions with Dad?"

"They tried to make me stay at the headquarters with the other kids, but all I ever wanted to do was find my brother," Chris explained, smiling sideways at Kit. "I kept sneaking away onto the plane with Dad as he was going off on one of his missions, finally Dad got tired of finding me in various compartments and knowing there was no stopping me, he talked the higher-ups into allowing me to accompany him on his missions. In the end, they agreed, as long as I didn't hinder the mission."

"So….are you on a mission now?" Kit asked.

Chris shook his head. "Not this time, we're on a brief break from missions. Whether we're on missions or on breaks, we're always going to places, always on the lookout for hints that you might've been there."

"Well, you found me, now what're you gonna do, take me back? What if I don't wanna go?"

"You… you don't wanna come back with me and Dad?" Chris asked, looking devastated and upset. "After all those crazy and dangerous missions and adventures we went on to find you?! D'you know how many times I could've been killed looking for you? Too many, that's how many!"

"Look, I'm sorry," Kit said, looking equally upset. "All my life I wanted a home, a place to belong—a family! I finally found that in Cape Suzette, at Higher for Hire. That's my home. Baloo, Rebecca, Molly, Wildcat, the Jungle Aces… they're all my family now. And I…. I can't just leave them... I left them once for fame and riches and nearly got myself killed, burnt and broken at the very least! And I would've been if Baloo haven't been there to save me. I don't want to make that mistake again. I just can't leave them after all we've been through together."

Chris look as though he might cry for a moment then he looked up at Kit, knowing all the futuristic toys and devices he'd be giving up for him. "What if….what if Dad and me move to Cape Suzette? Kit, please, we want to be a part of your family too.

"I'd like that, but I'm not moving out of Higher for Hire." Kit said. "I'm too attached to the place."

"That's okay, we can either move in and work for Miss Cunningham too, or start our own business nearby." Chris said.

Kit chuckled. "You'd better not, with that fast plane you and Dad have, you'd put us out of business before we'd even take off!"

"Eh, I don't think Dad'd be interested in hauling cargoes, he only like cargo planes because they make a good flying mobile home or a camping vehicle with wings ." Chris said, shrugging. "He'd make more money off of his mechanicing skills. It's unbelievable what Dad can fix! And he doesn't just fix things, he makes them like brand new! Like taking an old beat-up truck and turning it into a brand-new truck! That's how amazing he is at fixing things, that's how he built the _McQueen_!"

"Wow," Kit said in awe. "That sounds amazing, he'd be raking in the money as a general repair shop."

"Yeah, flying and cloudsurfing are his talents, but repairing things to the point of being brand new again is his best talent."

"Hey, Chris, I've been meaning to ask, what's our real last name?" Kit asked. "I only called myself Cloudkicker because that was the name in engraved on the corner of my airfoil." he drew out his airfoil and spread it out, showing Chris the name engraved on the corner. "I always thought this was Dad's and Cloudkicker might have been his nickname or something."

Chris looked at the air board in Kit's hand. "No, Kit, this is yours."

"What?"

"It's yours," Chris repeated. "Dad still has his, and I got mine…" he withdrew what looks like an airfoil just like Kit's, except when he spread it out, it was a round-shape board, like a disc rather than a boomerang-shape. "Before we were born, our family was into the air circus business, cloudsurfing was our most popular performance. Folks came from all over to see the cloud-skiing wonder—our Dad! Cloudkicker was going to be your stage name. Our grandfather started the tradition of assigning airfoils and a stage name to every kid born into our family, starting with Dad and his brother."

"His brother? We have an uncle?" Kit asked, getting a little excited, thinking there were more of his family left than he thought.

" _Had_ an uncle," Chris said gloomily. "He died in the war."

"Oh…" Kit said, feeling the gloom himself.. "What was his name?"

"He was Uncle Mark, that's all I know, Dad don't talk about him much, it's too painful for him."

"Yeah… um, can you tell me something."

"Sure, unless it's something I can't talk about."

"If Cloudkicker was going to be my stage name for the air circus show, then why are you and Dad using it as your last name too?"

"From what Dad told me, something bad happened in our air circus deal, something that made him drop our family name forever and adopt your stage name as our last name." Chris explained. "It was around that time you disappeared and he was just coming home from the war. I guess he took on your stage name to feel closer to you."

"So what was our original last name, do you know?"

"Yes, it was Windward, but Dad legally changed our name to Cloudkicker, your stage name."

"Kit Windward…" Kit said, as if trying to taste the name's flavor on his tongue. "Kit Windward, Chris Windward, Matthew Windward…." he tilted his head to one side, a look of uncertainty on his face, as if he was trying and failing to like the name. "Yeah, I think I'll stick with Cloudkicker. So, what's your stage name, Chris?"

"I'm Skyglider, because my board is more of a glider." Chris said. "And Dad is Cloudsurfer." he added, knowing Kit was about to ask.

"Cloudkicker, Skyglider and Cloudsurfer….they all sound pretty cool!" Kit said.

Feeling he has had enough with this Q and A ping pong game, Chris stood up.

"If you have any other questions about our family, save them for Dad." Chris said as he started to make his way back to Louie's. "Let's do lunch now." he offered Kit his hand and when Kit took it, he pulled him to his feet.

"What? Already?" said Kit, checking his watch and discovering that it was noon.

"Yeah, time flies when you go out for a jog, run in a race and have a chat with your brother." Chris said. "No matter what we do, the clock is always moving forward and never stands still."

"Well… I guess we can always talk later." Kit said reluctantly, following Chris to Louie's Place.

Later….

Baloo stepped into Louie's Place just as Kit and Chris were finishing their free lunch, both having ate a hamburger and fries with a cola. Both were seated at a table.

"Hey Papa Bear, how's the _Sea Duck_?" Kit asked, taking a sip of cola through a straw.

"Oh-oh man! She flew like a newborn plane, Little Britches!" Baloo shouted joyously. "Matt didn't just _fixed_ her, he made her brand new again, she even smells new! Just like the _McQueen_."

Chris gave Kit a 'what-did-I-tell-you' look from across the table. Then he looked up at Baloo.

"So…. where is my Dad?" he asked.

"Oh, he stayed up all night workin' on the _Duck_ ," Baloo said. "He's back in the _McQueen_ , gettin' some well-deserved shut eyes."

"So I'm stuck here?" Chris asked, sounding a little apprehensive.

"Nah, he asked me ta fly ya back to Cape Suzette." said Baloo. "And he said not expect him ta pick you up in a few days. Says he's going house hunting."

"Yeah, I guess we do need a new home." Chris said, nodding.

"What happened to your old one?" Kit asked.

"We were gone for so long that the bank took it due to overdue payments." Chris said. "Luckily the _McQueen_ wasn't tied in the deed with the hangar, so we've basically been living in the _McQueen_."

"Louie, old buddy!" Baloo called over to the bar, waving a hand. "How about some lunch over here? I'm starving.""

"Sorry cuz, no can do." Louie said. "Yer tab's too high fer me to ignore anymore. And you know what I say: When the tab gets high, kiss the scoop goodbye."

"Aw c'mon Louie. I'll pay ya as soon as I get some extra cash."

"Now where have I heard that one before?" Louie said in mocked puzzlement. "Did I hear that once or twice? Or maybe a dozen times? And don't give me that pathetic-looking mug, cuz, that ain't gonna fly this time."

"You'd send your old buddy away hungry?" Baloo said, shocked.

"Tell ya what, Baloo, pay your tab, and then you eat." Louie said firmly. "If not, well… it'd probably do you some good to lose a pound or twenty…." he laughed, although Baloo did not look amused.

"Fine," Baloo said, sounding a little irritated. "If that's the way you want it…. Kit, Chris, let's go." Baloo then marched out with two cubs in tow. "Can you believe that guy?" Baloo said as they had exited the building and were making their way to the _Sea Duck_ at the end of the dock. "Sending an old friend away like that without a single bite ta eat."

"Well….you _did_ ran a pretty steep tab, Baloo." Kit said in a small voice.

"Hey, whose side are you on, Kit?" Baloo snapped, and Kit meekly fell silent.

Chris however looked outraged. "WHAT?! I can't believe what I'm hearing!" he said, jabbing Baloo in the stomach with a finger. "He's on _your_ side, but he can also see that Louie needs money to stay open, and your high tab is making it very difficult for him! So don't you go taking your anger out on Kit. It's nobody's fault but yours!" he finished with one final jab that sent Baloo falling onto his huge backside.

"Oof!" grunted Baloo, rubbing his belly. "That's quite an arm ya got there, Chris."

Kit was looking at Chris in awe, amazed at the backbone Chris displayed in his defence of Kit.

"Wow, how did you get so tough, Chris?"

"Years of adventuring with Dad." Chris said proudly, taking up a superhero pose with both fists on his hip..

"All of which you can't tell me for some reason…." Kit muttered, annoyed.

Chris looked a little upset at that. "Kit, you will hear about my adventures. Just not right now."

"Now, now, cool it, you two," Baloo said, stepping between them. "I don't wanna feel this heat all the way back ta Cape Suzette. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, we still need to deliver the cargo before we head on home.""

Kit and Chris glared at each other across Baloo's big belly, and then they both smiled. It seems that they just couldn't stay mad at each other..

"There, now that's more like it," Baloo said, walking over to the _Sea Duck_ and opening the passenger side door of the cockpit. "All aboard!"

Kit and Chris climbed into the cockpit and Baloo stepped in after then, closing the door behind him.

The first thing Kit noticed when he looked around the cockpit was that it had acquired a new smell, it was that brand new car smell that the _McQueen_ had. And after looking around more carefully, he saw that the pilot and co-pilot seats were no longer patched, they were repaired to the point of looking brand new, The whole cockpit was shiny and sparkly. And the throttle has been modified to include the new maximum airspeed of five hundred miles per hour!

"Wow…." Kit said in awe. "This is the _Sea Duck_? She looks like this is her first time out of the factory!"

"If you think that's impressive, wait till ya hear the engine!" Baloo said happily, sitting himself in the pilot seat.

Chris nudged Kit with his elbow. "What did I tell ya? This is Dad's special talent, fixing and repairing things to the point of being brand new again."

"Yeah, you weren't kidding!" Kit said, opening the door to the cargo hold. Everything in here seems to be as new as the cockpit and Kit noticed an extra tow rope line at the end of the cargo hold.

Chris appeared at Kit's shoulder. "Oh good! Dad added another tow rope for us to cloudsurf together!"

"Yeah, I'd like to see how you cloudsurf on a round board." Kit chuckled.

"And I'd like to see how you cloudsurf on a boomerang-shape board." Chris said back.

"You can do that on the flight home, right now we need to deliver that cargo," Baloo said from the cockpit. "Hey, Kit, you did called Becky to let her know the cargo's running a day late, did ya?"

"Yes, Papa Bear, and she called the client to let them know too." said Kit, returning to the cockpit and taking seat.

"Nuh-huh-uh, that's the nagativator's seat." Baloo said as Kit got the map out.

"But I _am_ the nagativator, Baloo." Kit said, looking up from his map with a look of confusion.

Baloo smiled. "Not today, yer not." he said, picking Kit up out of his seat and setting him on his lap. "Chris can handle the maps while you fly the plane."

"What? R-really?! You mean it?!" Kit squealed with delight.

"Hey-hey, we can't let your brother leave you behind in the dust, now can we?"

Kit smirked at that. "No we can't, I'm gonna show him what I'm made of"!

"If you're trying to outshine me in flying, you've already failed before you even started to take off." Chris said in a bored voice, sitting in Kit's usual seat and getting the maps all situated. "You forgot to do the pre-flight checks."

"So did you, remember?" Kit pointed out.

"Yeah, but I didn't know Dad was going to let me fly at the time."

"Well," Kit shrugged. "Better go do the pre-flight checks while I'm still thinking about it."

Kit got down from Baloo lap, walked around Chris' seat and exited through the co-pilot door. Chris spent a few minute to study the map, looking at all the different countries.

"So," Chris said, after he finished studying the map. "Where do we need to get this cargo to?"

"The cargo needs ta go ta New Fedora," Baloo replied.

"WHAT?!" cried Kit from outside and he came back into the cockpit, looking furious.

"Man, that's a good set of ears ya got there... Now, Kit, it's just a cargo run…" Baloo said, trying to calm Kit down.

"Nuh-huh, Baloo, count me out." Kit said firmly. "I'm not going!"

"Why? What's so bad about New Fedora? They got a nice-looking airfield and everything." said Chris, while reading up on New Fedora on the map..

"Yeah, the same airfield where I nearly became barbecued pancake." Kit said with his arms folded.

"How'd you barbecue a pancake?" Chris asked, scratching his head in puzzlement.

"Easy, you put the cake through a ring of fire," Kit said, illustrating the movement by moving one finger from his left hand through the hole of his thumb and index finger of his right hand, making it looks like his finger is going through a hoop. "Then you let it free-fall to the ground, and— _SPLAT_!" he clapped his hands together to indicate squashing something. "And you have a barbecued pancake."

Chris stared at Kit for a long moment, and then it clicked. He gasped in horror. "YOU? _You_ were almost barbecued pancake?!"

Kit looked down at the floor. "Yeah, that's what I said…"

"Sorry, Lil' Britches, I know ya have bad memories of New Fedora, but a job's a job." Baloo said, patting Kit on the shoulder . "Besides, Becky will blow a gas leak if we don't deliver the cargo today."

"Yeah… okay…." Kit said in a resigned voice, he turned around and went into the cargo hold.

"Kit, where you're going? I thought you were gonna fly…." Baloo said.

"Not to New Fedora I'm not, I'm going to take a nap." Kit said. "Don't wake me up until we're bound for Cape Suezette." he said, slamming the cargo hold door behind him.

Chris and Baloo stared at the cargo hold door for a few moment and then Chris said: "Can _I_ fly?"

Later when the _Sea Duck_ was midway between Louie's and New Fedora, all was peaceful with Chris piloting the _Sea Duck,_ seated on Baloo's big belly, until… the sound of gunfire and bullets hitting metal

 _Ping, ping, ping, ping!_

"Pirates!" yelped Baloo, throwing Chris into the passenger seat and taking the controls.

"Oof!" Chris grunted as he landed in his seat.

"Helloooo! It is I, the fabulous plundering wonder, Don Karnage!" Karnage spoke over the radio. "You may have escaped the fearsome and noble pirate, Don Karnage yesterday, but today...! Today we _will_ be looting you. Why don't you just surrender, Baloo? You'll make it so much easier for my wonderful self."

"Heh, that's the first time I've heard the words 'fearsome' and 'noble' in the same sentence like that," Chris chuckles. "Kick it into gear, Baloo."

"Hey, you don't have ta tell me twice." Baloo said, putting the _Sea Duck_ into full throttle, and the _Sea Duck_ sped up. Baloo performed a couple of loop-de-loops to shake off the Pirates.

"YAAAAHOOOO!" Chris hooted as the Pirates tried to chase them, but could not match the _Sea Duck's_ newly increased maximum airspeed of five hundred miles per hour.

Chris then glanced out of his window, and did a double take. He saw something that made his heart stop, his eyes widening in horror.

"KIT!"

"What? Kit? Where?" yelped Baloo, looking wildly around.

"Down there, Baloo!" Chris cried, pointing out of his window.

Kit's limp form was free falling out of the sky, heading straight down to one of the islands below!

"KIT, NOOO!" cried Baloo in angrish as pointed the _Sea Duck_ down into a nosedive, racing the falling bear cub. But the Pirates got in his way, flying around him and shooting at him, forcing Baloo to pull out of the dive and perform some evading maneuvers to avoid being shot down.

"Kit! No!" Chris cried as the rescue mission was looking more and more hopeless. Then a look of fierce determination crossed his face. "No, I will not lose my brother!" he jumped out of his seat and ran to the door to the cargo hold, pushed it open and saw that the loading bay doors at the back of the plane were wide open. He ran down the cargo hold, pulling out his round disc of an airfoil as he went.

"May the Heart be with you!" he shouted as he threw the disc ahead of him and then jumped onto it.

The moment his feet touch the board, it glowed with a blue aura and flew at high speed out of the plane. He swooped down after Kit, but he was intercepted by Dumptruck shooting at him, and he had to duck to avoid being shot.

"GRRUGH! GET OUT OF MY WAY!" he roared, stretching out his hand. Out from under his sweatshirt flew something that looks like a flashlight. Chris caught it in his outstretched hand. The moment his hand closed on the handle of the flashlight-like device, it became the hilt to a blue glowing blade of laser! And in that instant, his clothes changed. Instead of his sweatshirt, Chris was now wearing something like a tan-colored karate gi.

He swooped and zigzagged through the air, all the while, swinging his blade around, which made a humming sound each and every time the blade was swung, batting away all the bullets that were being fired his way! When he was close enough to Dumptruck's plane, he sliced it in half with his laser blade.

Dumptruck gulped as he realized that he no longer have a plane holding him up. "Der, I hate when this happens…WAHAHHAHHH!" he screamed, falling out of the sky, before he pulled on the cord of his parachute.

Chris wheeled around in midair, directing his hand down at Kit, who all of a sudden, stopped falling, and hung in the air as if by invisible ropes. Chris made a beckoning motion with his hand, and Kit flew through the air towards him. He tossed his blade aside and caught Kit in his arms.

"Kit! Oh Kit!" Chris cried, hugging Kit before realizing that Kit was unconscious. But Chris didn't have time to be concerned, as another round of gunfire begin to rain down upon him! He quickly put Kit on his back, recalled his blade of laser, which flew through the air, right into Chris' hand, who grabbed it by the hilt and gave it a swing to deflect the bullets

Chris shot through the air, swinging his blade and slicing pirate planes and sending them falling to the ground or into the sea below. Finally it was just him and Karnage left. He soared through the air on his glowing airfoil towards Karnage's plane, landing on top of it. He stood there in front of Karnage, pointing the tip of the blade at Karnage's throat, who held up his hands and gulped.

"Heh-heh-heh, now, now…" Karnage said, laughing nervously. "Let us not be hasty pudding… P-perhaps we can strike a deal, yes-no?"

"Sure, we can strike a deal." Chris said, glaring down at Karnage. "The _Sea Duck_ is off-limit. Stay away from the _Sea Duck_ and you get to keep your head. Deal?"

Karnage was trembling with fear, he gulped again and then said. "W-w-well, you drived a hard bargain, but deal! We will no longer plunder the _Sea Duck_. Pirate's honor."

Chris dismissed his blade, tossing it away. The blade vanished and the hilt flew through air and straight into Chris' robe.

"Remember your vow, Karnage, or it's your plane next." Chris said, his glowing airfoil lifting off of Karnage's plane and flew toward the _Sea Duck._

Karnage's face filled with rage as he watched Chris fly through the air towards the _Sea Duck_. "You dare humiliate _ME_ , boy?! Me, the greatest plunderer of all time?! Take this! And that and that!" he yelled as he opened fire on Chris and Kit.

Chris heard the gun going off and whirled around, narrowly dodging a bullet or three.

"YOU IDIOT!" Chris roared in fury, and in the next moment, he was back in front of Karnage again, glowing blue blade of laser held high over his head. "I gave you a chance to walk away, and this is how you repay me?!"

Karnage let out a yell of fear and jumped out of his plane, just as Chris swung his blade, slicing the plane in two!

The two halves of the plane fell to the ground and crashed in an explosion as a sobbing Karnage parachuted to safety.

"My plane….! My beautiful, wonderful plane...!" Karnage whimpered, before crying his heart out in grief for his downed plane. "I am now a grounded pirate…! Waahh!"

"Idiot pirate," Chris muttered, dismissing his blade once again and hoisted Kit up higher on his back before flying towards the _Sea Duck,_ flying in through the loading bay doors. The moment he was inside, his clothes changed once again, instead of his tan-colored gi, he was now wearing his Franch sky blue sweatshirt again.

Stepping off of his board, which lost its' glowing aura the moment he stepped off, he carried Kit piggybacked to the bed in the cargo hold and laid him down upon it.

"All through that, and you didn't even wake up once!" Chris said over Kit. "You can't be _THAT_ much of a heavy sleeper…." Chris could see that Kit was breathing and there doesn't seem to be any injuries on him anywhere. He looked Kit over more thoroughly. Upon turning Kit's head from side to side, Chris discovered a dark bruise on the side of Kit's head. "Oh, that's right, he wasn't strapped down to the bed when Baloo suddenly had to do a maneuver to evade the pirates, and he must've been thrown around in the cargo hold, eventually hitting his head on something, knocking him out. No wonder he was unresponsive to the gunfire and free-falling."

"How's Kit?" Baloo asked from over Chris' shoulder. "Is he okay?"

"I think he'll be okay, but he might have a headache when he wakes up," Chris said, turning Kit's head and showing Baloo the dark bruise on his head. "He must've been bounced around in the cargo hold while you were dodging bullets and hit his head."

Baloo looked upset with himself as he fell to his knees beside Kit's bed and hugging the cub. "Oh, Lil' Britches, please be alright!" He then turned Chris. "Get the first aid kit from the cockpit, Chris."

"Yes sir!" Chris said, dashing across the cargo hold into the cockpit, and came dashing back with the first aid kit in hand. "Here you go, Baloo."

"Thanks," Baloo said, taking the first aid kit and getting to work on Kit's head. When he finished, Kit was wearing a neat turband of bandages on his head.

Chris meanwhile was moving cargo crates around, moving them back to their original positions. It was miracle the crates were still in the cargo hold at all. He then discovered Kit's baseball cap on the floor beneath a crate. He also discovered yellow patch hanging on the lever that opens the loading bay doors.

Chris then returned Kit's side and laid the cap on the bed beside Kit's pillow. He then took Kit's arm and held it up, uncovering a hole in the elbow of the sleeve where the yellow patch was.

"He must have hit the lever that opens the loading bay doors with his arm and fell out when it was open." He then removed Kit's sweatshirt, leaving him in just his white undershirt. He then took the sweatshirt and the patch back with him to the cockpit.

Baloo covered Kit in a blanket and then he strapped Kit down on the bed, making sure Kit would not be playing popcorn in the cargo hold again. And to make sure the crates would not hurt his precious Lil' Britches again, he strapped them down to the floor as well. Then he returned to Kit's side, patting the side of Kit's face lovingly, then he looked towards the cockpit, making sure Chris wasn't watching and saw that Chris was sitting in the navigator's seat, busy darning the patch back onto the sleeve of Kit's sweatshirt. Baloo then bent over Kit, and kissed him on the side of the head, before whispering:

"Get well soon, Lil' Britches."

Kit's face split into a smile as he slept on.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Finally, chapter two is up! Hope you enjoyed that.**

 **The way Chris is able to fly on his round disc of an airfoil is inspired from a superhero show, Static Shock, except Chris' using the Heart to make his airfoil fly while he's riding it.**

 **This story will have a few Star Wars elements but none of the characters from Star Wars. To be clear, Mathew is like a Jedi and Chris is a like a Jedi student, able to use the Heart (the Force) and wield Lightsabers, all of which would be called something different. I will not say what here, you'll have stick around for the next episode to find out!**


	3. Episode Three - Calm Before the Storm

**Disclaimer: I do not own TaleSpin**

* * *

 **Episode Three**

 **The Calm Before the Storm**

* * *

The _Sea Duck_ was en route for Cape Suzette, having finished its' cargo delivery at New Fedora, and in the cockpit, Baloo was piloting the plane while Chris was sewing the yellow patch back onto the sleeve of Kit's sweatshirt.

Baloo kept glancing at Chris, twice he opened his mouth to say something, but seems to lose his nerves. After all, how do you start questioning a child who could actually fly on a round board and take out the entire squadron of Air Pirates single handedly with nothing but a glowstick? And it was unnerving to think that this blue-eyes innocent-looking bear cub was even capable of doing that!

"And that's done!" said Chris happily as he cut the thread with his teeth, having finished sewing the patch back onto the sleeve. Finally, he noticed Baloo's attempts to talk to him, and he also noticed that Baloo seems extremely nervous and kept getting tongue-tied. "What is it, Baloo?" Chris asked, sounding half curious, half concerned.

"Oh…uh, nothing!" Baloo said, hastily looking away.

Chris observed Baloo for a minute, looking a little sad that Baloo seems to fear him.

"Look, Baloo, what you saw back there—"

"I-I didn't see anything! I-I saw nothing!" Baloo said shakily, he gulped and tightly shut his eyes, as though he expected to explode or something.

"Baloo, it's okay!" Chris said soothingly, reaching over and patting Baloo's arm. "I'm not going to hurt you, you're my brother's best friend, how could I even think of hurting you. You seem like a real fun guy!"

"R-really?" Baloo asked, relaxing a little

"Really," Chris said with smile. "Now, I know you saw what I did and I have a feeling you have a million questions for me, right?"

"Well… yeah," Baloo admitted.

"Then go ahead and ask me, but there are things I can't tell you, so there will be some things I can't answer, okay?"

"Okay."

"So, what's the first thing you wanna ask me?" Chris asked.

Baloo thought for a moment before asking: "What was that fancy nightlight you used on the Pirates' planes?"

"Nightlight? You mean this?" Chris asked, withdrawing what looks like flashlight from under his sweatshirt. He pressed the button with his thumb and the glowing blue laser blade rose up out of it, emitting a humming sound. "This is called the D-blade. Gotta be _REAL_ careful with this, it can cut through anything except its' owner and other D-blades. See?" he touched the blade with his finger, and nothing happened to his finger from touching the laser blade. "If anyone but me tried that, they'd lose a finger. My own D-blade can't be used against me, see?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say." Baloo said nervously, he gulped. "Put that thing away! Are you even allowed to carry that thing? Does yer Dad know you have it?"

"Of course he does, he has one too. You have to be part of a certain group to be allowed to carry one and the D-blade chooses you, not the other way around." Chris said, turning the D-blade off and putting it away. "Next question, please."

"How did ya make Kit fly towards you like a metal on magnet?" Baloo asked.

Chris thought for a moment, then said: "I don't know if I should be telling you this, but since you already saw me do it, I guess I could tell you." he paused, thinking before continuing. "It was the Heart that enabled me to do that. "

"The Heart? What's the Heart?" Baloo asked. "You mean this?" he placed a hand over his heart.

"No," Chris shook his head. "The Heart is the energy core of all living things in the universe, it empowers us according to our special gifts and talents. Those who are taught the way of the Heart can do amazing things. Take me for example, I can make anything under my feet fly, not just my airfoil."

"Really?" Baloo said incredulously.

"Uh-huh," Chris said, nodding. "One time, Dad lost both engines and I stood on the floor of the cockpit and flew the plane, just like I did with my airfoil."

"So the Heart also drew Kit to you?"

Again, Chris nodded. "All of those who are taught to use the Heart have one power in common; telekinesis."

"Telekinesis? What's that?"

For an answer, Chris pointed a finger at Baloo's pilot cap and it lifted up off his head and flew around the cockpit before landing on Chris' head.

" _That_ is telekinesis." Chris said, making Baloo's pilot cap fly back onto its' owner's head.

"Can _I_ do that too?" Baloo asked, pointing to himself..

"Sure! Anyone can do it if they know how." Chris said. "You just need to know how to tap into the Heart and harness it. But as the Heart is also the source of all living things, it must also be respected."

"And uh, how _do_ you do it?"

"Sorry Baloo, I can't say. I'm just a student," Chris said. "I'm forbidden to reveal the secret workings of the Heart by my Master. You'll need a Master to teach you that."

" _Just_ a student? And you took out the Air Pirates by yerself?" Baloo said in surprise. "Oh baby! If that's the power of a _student_ , then the real….whatever they are, must be something else!"

"Dedis, we're called Dedis." Chris said.

"De-die?" Baloo said, stretching his head.

"No, no, no," Chris chuckled. "Not De-die, it's pronounced 'Ded-i'."

"So what does a D-guy do?" Baloo asked.

"Ded-i _,_ " Chris corrected him again. "As in 'dedication', without the 'cation'. Basically, we're a special forces that protects and defend the world from devastation. That is really all I can say, I think I've said too much as it is, if you wanna know anything more, you'll have to ask my Dad."

"But why do I need to ask yer Dad when you're doing a bang-up job at explaining it to me now?"

Chris groaned with his hand over his face, sliding down in his seat. "I knew I was talking a bit too much…."

"Now don't you worry, Chris-boy, you can trust ol' Baloo," Baloo said, smiling at Chris. "I won't tell a soul."

Chris smiled back. "Thanks, Baloo."

At that moment, the door to the cargo hold opened and in came Kit, groaning and holding his head in one hand and keeping his balance with the other, holding onto the doorframe. He swayed a little as he walked into the cockpit and stood between Baloo and Chris' seat.

"Hey, there Lil Britches, you okay?" Baloo asked with concern, picking Kit up and setting him on his lap.

"Ohh, my head... What hit me?" Kit moaned, massaging his head and he felt the bandages. "What happened?

"Sorry, Lil Britches," Baloo said sympathetically, hugging Kit. "The Air Pirates got on our tail and I had ta shake 'em off. You were thrown around in the cargo hold and must've hit yer head, and then you…"

Chris was frantically waving his hands at Baloo from behind Kit's back, shaking his head and then putting a finger to his lip.

Baloo backtracked at once. "And then, _I_ shook them off and we got away. After that, we found you on the floor and we doctored you up."

"That would explain this splitting headache I'm having… Got any aspiring, Papa Bear?" Kit asked in a slightly whiny voice, which shows how much the headache was bothering him, because Kit was not usually whiny.

Baloo gave a sad little smile. "Sorry, Kit, but I had ta stop carrying those with me when Wildcat kept mistaking them for mints…."

* * *

 **Flashback:**

 _Baloo was piloting plane while Wildcat sat in the passenger seat, navigating, though not doing a good job at it._

" _Oh look! Candy!" cried Wildcat happily, picking up the bottle of aspirin tablets, unscrewing the lid and preparing to dump himself a mouthful of tablets._

" _Wildcat!" Baloo yelled, snatching the bottle away from him. "What're you doing?!"_

" _Oh, you wanted those mints too, Baloo?" Wildcat asked, looking like a small boy who'd just had a treat taken from him._

" _These aren't mints, Wildcat! They're aspiring tablets!" Baloo said exasperatedly._

" _Oh, no thanks, I don't have a headache." Wildcat said and Baloo buried his face in his hand, shaking his head._

 **End of Flashback.**

* * *

"That sounds like Wildcat alright…" Kit said, unamused. "Ohh, my head…"

Baloo cuddled Kit in his arm while Kit lay his head on Baloo's chest.

"Aw, don't you worry, Lil' Britches, we'll be home in a little while…" Baloo said, and then unable to help himself, he kisses Kit on top of the head. And this time, it was not missed by Chris, who was looking up at Baloo with a mixture of surprise and devastation. "Uh, Chris? What's wrong?"

Chris found that he could not speak as his eyes filled with tears. He jumped out of his seat and dashed into the cargo hold, slamming the door behind him.

"Chris!" Baloo yeled after him. "Oh, _now_ what's the matter with him?" He sighed as he got up, setting Kit down in his seat. "Here, take the stick, Lil' Britches, while I go find out what's eating Chris."

Baloo opened the cargo hold door gently, and peered inside. Chris was sitting on the bed, his face buried in his knees. This gave Baloo a sense of deja-vu, being reminded of Kit doing the exact same thing when he had asked Kit about how he knew so much about Air Pirates while en route for Pirate Island to rescue Rebecca and Molly.

Chris looked up as Baloo approached. "Aren't you supposed to be flying?" he asked, putting his face back down in his knees.

The feeling of deja-vu intensified as Baloo stood over Chris. "Relax, Kit's playing autopilot." he sat down on the bed next to Chris. "Now, do you wanna tell me what's eatin' ya?"

"Did my Dad tell you how we're related to Kit?" Chris asked.

Baloo shook his head, "It never came up, although I did hear you shout ' _I will not lose my brother!_ ' back there when the Pirates were attacking us." he chuckled. "Imagine my surprise, I was like ' _Brother?'_ Once I put two and two together, it was pretty obvious you're his family. You and Kit look so alike, except for the fur color and the blue eyes. You're his twin, right?"

"Yeah…"

"So what's the problem, Lil Buddy?" Baloo asked.

"...Lil Buddy?" Chris asked with a raised eyebrow, as he was the kind of boy who didn't usually take kindly to being referred to as 'little' anything. But as there were affection in Baloo's voice, Chris did not object.

"Yeah, I call Kit 'Lil Britches', so I thought I'd give you a special nickname too."

Chris cracked a smile. "Forgive me if I don't call you Papa Bear. I think I'll stick with Baloo."

"That's fine. Now, do you wanna tell me why you're so down in the blues?" Baloo asked,

"It's just that…. You two obviously mean so much to each other," Chris said, his voice shook with emotion. "And Kit had you filling the void that Dad couldn't fill for him! We've been looking for him for eleven years! And now that we've found him, we're torn between wanting to take him back to live with us and….and…." he let out a sob and buried his face in Baloo's chest.

"And letting him stay with me…." Baloo finished the sentence for him, patting the back of Chris' head. "Oh, Lil Buddy, that one's hard ta swallow. But if he wants to go with you two, I won't stop him. Though I'll miss him terribly."

"I'm the same way, I want to take him back to live with us, but not if it means tearing him away from his beloved Papa Bear."

"Yeah… I can see how that would eat away at yer heart, Chris." Baloo said, hugging Chris in a comforting way. "But whether Kit stays or goes, as long as he's happy, I'll… accept his decision." Baloo finished reluctantly.

"Yeah..." Chris said, wiping his eyes on his sleeve. "I guess I'll have to do the same… Thanks, Baloo." he then hugged Baloo.

In that conversation, it was confirmed for Baloo that Matthew was Kit's father and Chris was Kit's brother. He had suspected it, but now he knew for sure.

A few hours later, at Higher for Hire, Rebecca was at her desk, signing papers and answering the phone from numerous calls from customers confirming that their shipments had arrived.

She heard the _Sea Duck_ pull into the docks and then she heard Wildcat exclaimed: "Wow, is that a the _Sea Duck?_ It looks like a new plane!"

"New plane? What is he talking about?" Rebecca muttered as she stood up, walked around her desk and out the building. The moment she saw the _Sea Duck,_ she let out a gasp. She went running towards the plane. "What happened to my plane?! It's….it's all new…..and… and shiny-looking! Not that I'm complaining, but how did this happened?"

The door to the cockpit swung open and Baloo stepped out, followed by a downcast Kit.

"Baloo, what happened to my plane, why is it all new and shiny-looking and—oh my goodness, Kit, what happened to your head?!" she demanded, as Kit's cap did little to conceal the bandages wrapped around his head.

Kit had his eyes shut tight with his hands over his ears, groaning and whining. "T-too loud…" He even look tired and a little ill. His eyes were dull, so unlike their bright and full-of life shine.

"Hey, Becky…" Baloo said quietly, cupping a hand to the side of his mouth. "Could ya lower yer voice? Kit's havin' a real bad headache."

"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry, Kit." Rebecca said in a much softer voice. She took Kit by the arm and gently guided him back to the building. "Let's get you straight to bed, young man."

"Thanks Miz Cunningham." Kit said weakly but gratefully. "Do you have any aspiring?"

"Yes, of course." Rebecca said as they entered the building. "You go upstairs to bed and I'll go and get it."

Kit made his way slowly up the stairs while Rebecca went to the safe and dialed the combination. When it opened, it was revealed to being used as a medicine cabinet as well as a money safe, as top shelf was full of medicines, the middle shelf held folders of important documents and on the third shelf, sat a handful of cash and changes.

"Let me see…." Rebecca said, browsing through the medicines. "...cough medicine….pain relief….band aids….alcohol….aspiring…..aha! Here we are, children's aspirin." she took the bottle of children's aspiring out. "Twelve and under." she read off the label. She took two tablets out and then went into the kitchen to get a glass of water. When she came back into the office, carrying a glass of water in one hand and two small children's aspirin tablets in the other, Baloo and Chris stood in the middle of the office, waiting for her.

"Hey Becky, look who followed us home!" Baloo said, placing a hand on Chris' shoulder, who waved ratherly shyly.

Rebecca's eyes widened in shock and she dropped the glass, which shattered on the floor, creating a puddle of water on the floor.

"Can we keep him?" Baloo said, grinning.

"But… but… Kit's upstairs, how is he down….?" Rebecca stammered.

"Allow me to introduce, the twin brother of Kit…. Chris Cloudkicker!" Baloo said, gesturing to Chris, who was looking down at the broken glass and then up at Rebecca with concern.

Rebecca groaned and fell, fainting to the floor.

Baloo and Chris looked down at Rebecca in concern and then at each other.

"Maybe you should've broken the ice a little before introducing me..." Chris said. "You know, warn her first."

"Maybe, but I wanted to introduce you in style." Baloo said as he went over to Rebecca's side and lifted her half off the floor and begin to fan her a little. "Becky….Becky, yoo-hoo, anybody home?"

"Look, there are tablets in her hand." Chris said, bending down and taking the aspiring tablets from her. "These must be for Kit, I'll go get a new glass of water… Uh, where's the kitchen?" he asked, looking around.

"Through there." Baloo said, pointing at a doorway just a few feet from Rebecca's desk.

Chris went into the kitchen and came back out with a new glass of water in his hand. "Okay, I got the water. Where's Kit's room?"

"Up the stairs, first room ya come to." Baloo said, fanning Rebecca with an empty pizza box that he'd gotten out of the trash can.

"Thanks!" Chris said, running up the stairs and into the room Kit shared with Baloo.

Rebecca started to come to. "Baloo?"

"Hey, Becky, you okay?" Baloo said, helping her sit up.

Rebecca groaned, holding her head. "I thought I was going crazy. I thought I saw another Kit."

"Nah, Becky, yer not seeing doubles, that was Kit's long-lost twin, Chris." Baloo said.

"Kit has a twin?" Rebecca asked, standing up.

"Yeah, and a Dad too."

Rebecca froze, looking shocked. "He also has a Dad, as in a _parent_?!"

"Yeah. His name is Matthew, a real swell guy too, he fixed up the _Sea Duck_ and everything." Baloo said.

"I think I need to sit down…." Rebecca muttered and Baloo helped her to her chair behind her desk and then begin to tell her the whole story.

Upstairs in the bedroom, Chris closed the door behind him with his foot and walked towards Kit who was laying on his side upon his bed, clutching his head.

"Hey bro, I got the aspiring for you." Chris said in a gentle voice, walking over and standing next to Kit's bed.

"Thanks," Kit said weakly, he sat up in bed, took one pill and the glass of water from Chris and gulped down the first mouthful of water along with the pill, then he took the second pill and gulped that down too.

Then he drank down the rest of the water, as he was very thirsty. When he had finished, he set the empty glass down on the bedside table and laid back down, preparing to sleep. But Chris pulled him back up to a sitting position.

"Wait, bro, you need to put on your night clothes first." Chris said, lifting Kit's green sweatshirt up and off, leaving the bear cub with only his fur, his legs were already under the covers. "Now, where's your night clothes?"

"Top drawer," Kit said, gesturing to the bedside table on which a hula lamp stood.

Chris opened the drawer and pulled out two long white nightshirts. "You have two, you don't mind if I borrow one, do you?"

"No, go ahead." Kit said as Chris put the nightshirt on him, all Kit had to do was push his arms through the sleeves and then laid back down and closed his eyes.

Chris patted Kit's head gently, before removing his cap and placing on the bedpost. He then changed into Kit's spare nightshirt.

When he had folded his French-sky blue sweatshirt neatly and placed it neatly on the foot of the spare bed. He hopped onto the bed and found himself in a Baloo-size crater in the mattress!

"Ouch!" Chris winced as he felt the flattened bedsprings and wooden boards the held the mattress up against his spine. He climbed out of the crater and off the bed, rubbing his back. "Ow... a bed like that would bend my back out of shape!" He stretched his spine out before walking over to Kit's bed and gently shaking him awake. "Kit, can I sleep with you? Baloo's bed is a death trap!"

Kit smiled in amusement before saying: "Sure," he scooted over closer to the wall, opening the covers to Chris. Chris climbed into bed next to Kit, sharing the same pillow, and Kit covered them both up. "G'night, Chris."

"'Night, bro." Chris said.

They both rolled onto their side, and slept back-to-back.

Half an hour later, the door opened and Baloo and Rebecca peered in, checking on the boys. Assured that the boys were asleep, they entered the room, Rebecca blinking and rubbing her disbelieving eyes, but she could not dispute the fact that there were two cubs in Kit's bed, the only way to tell the sleeping cubs apart was their fur color. Kit's was sienna and Chris' was bronze.

"I'm seeing it and I _still_ don't believe it," Rebecca whispered as she and Baloo moved towards the bed and stood over them, just looking at them. "After all this time, a brother and father suddenly appear. All this time, I believed Kit to be an orphan."

"You weren't the only one, Becky." Baloo said softly. "Even Kit himself believed it."

"But you do realize what this means, don't you, Baloo?" Rebecca said, sadly placing a hand on his arm. "If there's a father in the picture, I'm afraid we would have to let Kit go. It wouldn't be right to keep him from his father, Baloo."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Baloo said with a depressed, downcast face. "I would miss him, but I'm not worried. Matt seems like a real swell guy. Any Dad that looks for their missing child fer years on end without letups is a grade-A Dad in my book."

"But don't you find this a little _too_ coincidental, if not downright suspicious?" Rebecca asked. "Orphans don't normally cease being orphans. Are you sure this Matthew guy wouldn't have any... sinister motives for Kit and his twin... like Daring Dan?"

"Matt is nothing like Dirty Dan," Baloo said, frowning at the very mention of Daring Dan. "Besides, the resemblance he shares with Kit and Chris is just too uncanny fer him _not_ to their Dad or some way related to them."

"Well, I don't trust him!" Rebecca said in a fierce whisper, going into protective Mama Bear mode, which caused Baloo to back away from her. "At least not yet. He could be crook, wanting to use these two boys for his own gain! But... if he is genuine," she said, her expression changing to a dreamy look, as though she was reading this out of romance novel. "and is truly their father, it is amazing that he never gave up on finding Kit."

"Yeah, but Becky, you saw what he did to the _Sea Duck_ , he'd make big bucks on auto repairs." Baloo argued. "Why would he need to use these boys ta make money?"

"I don't know, a lot of people's minds works in strange ways, Baloo, You should know that by now, with all the crazy clients and Pirates we've encountered since I opened this business." Rebecca hissed back "I don't trust him, at least not until I've met him and gotten the measure of him. And if this Matthew guy shows up before I could meet him in person, don't let these two boys out of your sight! That's an order from your boss!"

Baloo gulped at Rebecca's fierce and protective mother mode. "Okay, okay, Bosslady, I'll watch 'em like a hawk."

"You better, buster, or you'll never fly the _Sea Duck_ again!" Rebecca said, jabbing Baloo in the chest with a finger. She checked her watch. "Well, I guess I'll go home now, Molly would have drove her babysitter insane by now." she laughed as she left.

"Sheese!" Baloo said, rubbing his chest where Rebecca had jabbed him. "Never knew she cared so much about Kit… guess she always had a soft spot for kids."

Baloo changed into his nightshirt and got into bed, falling asleep not long after.

Later in the night, lightning from outside flashes, momentarily litting up the room, followed by a rumble of thunder. Chris' ear twitched at the sound and he shot bolt upright, just in time to see the room lit up in the flash of lightning.

"Oh, no!" he squealed in a high-pitched whimper, he jumped out of bed, got down on the floor and rolled under Kit's bed, trembling with his hands over his eyes. "Oh no, okay….it's okay….it's okay…" He tried to comfort himself, but suddenly the thundering went from rumbling to booming, he let out a loud, high-pitched yelp, wrapping his arms around his face, shaking like a chihuahua on a cold winter's day.

Kit awoke to the thundering, grateful that his headache was almost gone. But then he noticed Chris was no longer next to him.

"Chris…? Chris…?" Kit said, looking around. Then his ears detected a terrified whimpering coming from below. He got up out of bed and traced the whimpering to underneath his bed and found a terrified Chris, shaking with a wild look of fear in his eyes. "Chris, what's wrong?" he asked in concern.

Chris was about to answer, but a lightning flashed outside, followed by a loud booming thunder and he let out a cry of fear and hid his face in his hands.

"Kit?" Baloo muttered, waking up. He let out a huge yawn. "What's going on?"

"I don't know, Papa Bear, but Chris is freaking out!" Kit said with concern in his voice.

Baloo got up, approached Kit's bed and bent down. "Hey there, Chris, come on out from under there."

Another lightning flashed, followed by another booming thunder that shook the hula lamp on the bedside table. Chris yelped, shook his head vigorously and retreated further back under the bed.

Baloo reached down, took of Chris' ankle and begin to drag him out from under the bed. But this was a mistake. Chris screamed bloody murder and thrashed around wildly under the bed, kicking around so much, that Baloo lost his grip on him.

"Baloo! Stop, stop!" Kit cried, holding Baloo back. "He's panicking, you're only making it worse."

"But how are we supposed to comfort him if he's under there?" Baloo asked.

"I don't know, but he wasn't like this before the storm… wait a minute... the storm!" Kit said, realizing all of a sudden.

"The storm? What about—?"

"Shh," Kit said. "Watch." He and Baloo bend over and watched Chris from beside the bed.

As another flash of lighting lit up the room and another booming thunder sounded outside, they could see that Chris flinched, yelped and whimpered at every flash and thunder. Then Baloo and Kit looked at each other.

"I think he has a severe case of astrapophobia, Baloo." Kit said with sympathy in his voice

"Astrapo-what?"

"Astrapophobia, it means he has an irrational fear of thunder and lightning." Kit explained. He sighed. "Go back to bed, Baloo, I'll handle this. He's my brother and between the two of us, I'm the only one who can crawl under there with him."

"If you're sure, Lil Britches." Baloo said, sounding doubtful as he got back into bed.

Kit got down on his stomach and crawled under the bed and saw that Chris was curled up in the corner, shaking and sobbing. As Kit approached Chris, he realized that Chris was crying, he was crying out of a mixture of self-loathing, humiliation and fear. Chris hated himself for having this phobia, humiliated that he was having this phobia-induced panic attack in front of Kit and Baloo and he was still fearful of the next lightning strike.

When Kit reached him, he put an arm around him. Chris gasped and his body started thrashing around, causing Kit to tighten his hold on Chris, pinning him down.

"Whoa, whoa, easy Chris, it's just me." Kit said softly, pulling Chris closer to him and hugging him. "Shh, it's okay, Chris, it's okay..." he said, rubbing the back of Chris' head as Chris continues to sob, and Kit took it as a good sign that Chris' body relaxed a little in his embrace. "It's okay…. I'm here for you, Chris."

"I hate this... I really hate this!" Chris sobbed as Kit comforted him

"Shh..." Kit whispers consolingly.

With Kit holding him, the effects Chris' phobia had on him was greatly reduced, he no longer shriek or yelp with terror at every lightning flashes or screamed at every booming thunders. With Kit holding him, he only gasp and clung on to Kit at every flashes and thunders.

As the storm died out, Chris fell asleep in Kit's embrace and Kit, knowing the storm was over, got out from under the bed and dragged Chris out with him. He then picked Chris up off the floor, straining with Chris' weight as he was a little heavy for Kit, but he manages to put Chris on the bed and pushed him towards the wall before climbing back into bed himself. He pulled the cover over himself and Chris, settled down and fell asleep.

Elsewhere, aboard the Iron Vulture, Don Karnage was furiously fuming, pacing back and front while the other Pirates trembled with fear at his rage or grieved over their planes, crying their hearts out.

Their mechanic, Ratchet was already hard at work on putting Karnage's plane back together. So far he had super glued and bolted the two halves of the plane together and was now using a blowtorch to mend the crack along the body of the plane.

"How dare that insignificant filthy little flea slice my beautiful plane in half!" Karnage raged. "Ooh, he make me so angry just thinking about him! The next time I see him, I will tear him into little bite-size pieces, sew him back together will dull needles and then feed him to the sharks!" He stopped his pacing, holding his chin thoughtfully. "Hmm…. Did he not look familiar?"

Gibber, who rarely left Karnage's side while aboard the Iron Vulture or on Pirate Island, whispered in his ear.

"Yes…. he did look like Kit Cloudkicker… but where did he get that glowing sword and how was it that he could fly?" Karnage wondered, and Gibber shrugged, his body language saying: ' _Beats me.'_ "Then perhaps I will interrogate him under torture before cutting him up, sewing back together with dull needles and feeding him to the sharks…"

"D-done, Cap'n." Ratchet said with a sniff.

"Excellent!" Karnage said in delight, striding over to Ratchet and stood next to him, admiring his newly repaired plane. "It is beautiful! It is once again the most dreaded plane in the seven skies! You did well, my puny little mechanic you!" He hugged and kissed Ratchet on the top of his head.

"Aw shucks, cap'n…" Ratchet blushed, looking pleased with himself for finding favor with the captain.

"So, Ratchet, status report of my beloved plane of terror."

"Huh? Oh yeah! I did managed to put the plane back together again."

"So I can see," Karnage said with a nod. "Did you had to change anything?"

"Well I had to put in a brand new engine. I couldn't fix your old one, it was damaged beyond repair."

Karnage looked heartbroken and enraged by that information. "Ooh, that Kit Cloudkicker-lookalike makes me so angry! First, I will have all of his fur painfully removed with a pair of tweezers! And then boil him in hot oil, before dumping him out in the sea! Ha-ha-ha, he'd make tasty shark treats, yes-no?"

The rest of the Pirates grimace in fear at Karnage's latest torturous death description.

"But isn't it against the Pirates' code to harm children?" said a voice from above.

"Who goes there?" Karnage demanded, looking up.

There, on the rail of the catwalk above them, sat a chocolate brown bear, wearing a brown leather flight jacket and a pair of blue jeans. He jumped down from the catwalk and landed in their midst, surrounded by Pirates.

"You, foolish person," Karnage said, pointing a finger at him. "Who are you, my soon-to-be-insufficient-prisoner."

"Matthew's the name, Matthew Cloudkicker." the bear said without the slightest hint of fear.

"Cloudkicker, eh? Now why does that name ring a bell?" Karnage pondered. Gibber whispered in his ear and Karnage angrily grabbed the front of Gibber's shirt. "I know that Kit Cloudkicker was once among us!" he then threw Gibber from him..

Matthew's eyes gleamed, hearing exactly what he wanted to hear. "Yes, I see you know my son."

"Your _WHAT_?!" Karnage gasped, then he studied Matthew for a moment. "Hmm, yes, now I see the resemblance. Well, since you are responsible for bringing that flea-infected furball into the world… SHOOT HIM! SHOOT HIM A LOT!" he roared at his men, pointing a finger at Matthew.

The surrounding Pirates all drew their guns, but Matthew raised a hand. "Parley." he said.

Confused, the surrounding Pirates looked at each other and lowered their weapons.

"Der, what's parley, Mad Dog?" Dumptruck asked.

"I don't know…." Mad Dog said.

Groaning with impatience and anger, Karnage snapped: "What are you waiting for?! Shoot him!"

Looking horrified, Gibber quickly dashes over to Karnage and whispered urgently into his ear as the Pirates were raising their guns again.

"HALT!" Karnage roared again, running over and smacking Dumptruck and Mad Dog. "What do you think you are doing, you idisome Pirates! The gentleman here has evoked parley, which means he must not be harmed until a negotiation has been agreed upon!"

"But you said—OW!" Mad Dog said as Karnage smacked him again.

"You dare argue with my magnificent self?" Karnage said cold fury, smacking him again. "I ought to hang you by your little toe!"

Looking like a little child who had been scolded severely, Mad Dog whined: "Sorry, captain…"

"Man, the ego on this guy…" Matthew muttered to himself. "Certainly would explain the size of this flying fortress…"

"Okay, parley time," Karnage said, turning to Matthew. "What is there to negotiate, foolish flyer-person?"

"I desire only information you may have on my son, Kit Cloudkicker." Matthew said. "Through a series of detective work, I am attempting to piece together what my son had been through, where he been, et cetera."

"Well, that certainly is a noble quest, but, uh, here's a thought." Karmage said. "Why not ask him yourself?"

Matthew sighed. "Cloudkickers are stubborn, I have a feeling he'll never tell me the full story, no matter how much I question him. He'll probably just give me bits and pieces, but never the whole story. We tend to keep things to ourselves, you see."

"Yes, yes, and in exchange for information, you'll give me…?" Karnage said impatiently.

"Just this," Matthew said, and he reached into his jacket and withdrew a very large diamond.

Karnage's eyes lit up at the sight of the diamond. "Well…" he said greedily. "Perhaps we _can_ help each other. Gibber, bring me the file on Kit Cloudkicker."

Gibber left to the other room and came back with the file in his hand. He handed it to Karnage.

"Thank you," Karnage said, taking the file, and the he and Matthew walked towards each other. Simultaneously, they handed over their items to trade and simultaneously, they took the item of trade from each other. Now Matthew has the folder and Karnage has the diamond.

Karnage laughed as he examined the diamond. "Once again, I, the glorious Don Karnage, has gotten a huge profit from a totally one-sided deal! The file is worthless compared to this!"

Matthew opened the file, making sure everything was in there, he saw a black-and-white photo of Kit wearing a scowl on face and a bandana around his neck paperclipped to the corner of the folder, it didn't really suit Kit at all.

He closed the folder. "Yeah. I thought you might like it, that's why I took it from your own treasure room."

Karnage was cuddling the diamond against his face "Yes, it's a beau—wait, what?! This is already mine?!" Karnage said in a rage, looking at the diamond at arm's length. "Nobody fools the great Don Karnage and live!" He threw the diamond on the floor out of anger, it ricochet off the floor and hit him in the face! "OW! Grr, SHOOT… him?" Karnage saId, looking around and realizing Matthew was no longer there. "Where'd he go? FIND HIM, YOU USELESS LUMPS! FIND HIM!"

On the roof of the _Iron Vulture_ , sat the _McQueen_. Not too far from the plane, a trap door in the roof opened and Matthew climbed through. He then dashed into the plane, started the engines and took off. To ensure he did not get intercepted by the Pirates, shortly after take off, Matthew activated Overdrive and disappeared into the horizon in a burst of speed.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **I've yet to receive any reviews since my first episode of the D.A. Hearts, after a while of not hearing from my readers, not being able to read their opinions on my story is kind of discouraging. I like to know what my readers think of it. I won't stop writing this story, but I'd like to hear from my readers. Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed this episode and stay tuned for the next one!**


	4. Episode Four - Snow Day in Thembria

**Disclaimer: I do not own TaleSpin**

* * *

 **Episode Four**

 **Snow Day in Thembria**

* * *

The _McQueen_ sat on the surface of the water in the middle of open sea, surrounded by archipelagos, and inside of the cockpit, seated in his seat, Matthew was examining the papers in the file that he had gotten from Don Karnage about Kit.

Matthew found the papers in the file surprisingly informative, Don Karnage had gone out of his way to write down every little detail, in a self-flattering sort of way, but it still gave Matthew a clear picture of what happened when Kit first encountered the Air Pirates.

The Air Pirate had plundered a cargo plane that was bound for Cape Suzette from Freeport. Dumptruck had found Kit hiding in one of the cargo crates.

"Though the boy was quite young, I saw the making of a great pirate in him and decided to recruit him." Matthew read off the paper. "So we took him and brought him back to the _Iron Vulture_. I then decided that he would be my cabin boy, but he was soon promoted to navigator for the Iron Vulture when he has proven to be great with maps."

The file went on to describe the adventures and various treasure hunts and plunders of cargo planes that Kit had been involved in.

"Bound for Cape Suzette from Freeport…" Matthew re-read. "So Kit wanted to go to Cape Suzette even before he met Baloo."

He kept on reading, reading through the events of Karnage's quest to build the Lighting Gun, Kit's thieving of the stolen Stone, the pirates' pursuit of Kit and Baloo for the Stone, the kidnapping of an annoying business lady and her little girl, Kit's reunion with the Pirates, right down to Kit's final betrayal that ended with the destruction of the Lighting Gun and their dreams of plundering Cape Suzette.

"Whoa… Kit risked his own life to save Cape Suzette there." Matthew said, feeling a mixture of sadness and pride. He was proud of Kit for his heroic deeds, but he was also sad that Kit had to make that decision in the first place. No child should ever be made to feel like they had to put their lives on the line, even if it was for the greater good.

Matthew closed the file, got up and went into the cargo hold. He opened a locker and placed the file on a shelf within, next to the other files and records of Kit he'd managed to gather in the last couple of days. Kit's record from the orphanage, Kit's police records (though those records did not report any crimes, just capturing and returning a runaway orphan to the orphanage), and most recent of all, his Captain Kit Cloudkicker, Ace of the Sky promotion posters from Daring Dan's airshow. Matthew had collected all the different posters ever released. He gave the posters a sad little smile and then buried his face in his hand, falling to his knees in grief.

"I'm so, so sorry, Kit," he muttered, sobbing a little in his hand. "Sorry I couldn't find you sooner..."

The sun rose in Cape Suzette and as the rooster crowed, Kit woke up inside the upstairs' bedroom of Higher for Hire. He sat up and stretched. He looked over at Baloo's bed to see that Baloo was laying on his side, snoring gently as he snoozed on, and then looked to his other side at Chris, who was still deeply asleep next to him on the bed.

"Poor Chris," Kit said sympathetically, stroking Chris on top of the head, running his fingers through his hair. Chris smiled as he slept on. "He may be an early riser, but because of his phobia of the storm last night, he may sleep a little longer today."

Kit got up out of bed and started gathering clothes from various places on the floor, and when he picked up Chris' sweatshirt, he noticed it felt a little heavy. He gave it a shake and three items came out of it onto the floor with a loud thump! Kit cringed and looked back at Chris, who gave a loud snort and seemed close to waking up, but he simply turned over and slept on. Kit breathed a sigh of relief before bending over and reaching to pick up the items.

The items on the floor he assumed were Chris' folded airfoil and what looks like a tiny pill box and a flashlight. He picked up the airfoil and set it on the bedside table. He picked up the pill box and opened it, inside were what looks like three maroon colored jelly beans. He took one of the beans out and examined it, sorely tempted to eat it, to taste it, but decided against it. This belongs to Chris after all and he did not know whether this was really a jelly bean or some kind of medicine that Chris was taking. And as he had learned on the streets; never eat or drink anything of an unknown substance. He put the bean back into the box, closed it and set it on the bedside table, and now, only the flashlight remains.

Kit picked it up and examined it, noticing that this wasn't an ordinary flashlight. It looks fancy, almost futuristic.

"Wow… this is a cool-looking flashlight." he said, turning it on. But instead of light, a long blue glowing rod shot out of it, startling Kit! "WHAO!" Kit gasped as he swung the strange blue glowing blade once, noticing that it made a strange humming sound when swung, he dropped it. The butt of the hilt hit the floor, and the blue blade flickered and died.

Kit approached the flashlight-like device cautiously and was even afraid to pick it up again, but he bravely reached out a shaky hand and picked up again.

"What is this thing?" Kit said to himself, rotating the device over in his hand. He held it at arm's length and pressed the button again, causing the blue glowing rod to appear again. For a moment, he just stood there, staring at it.

"KIT!" cried Chris' voice from the bed.

Startled, Kit whirled around in time to see Chris leap from the bed, cartwheeled in midair and then landed on the floor next to him, snatching the blue glowing rod out of his hand. He turned it off and the blue glowing rod vanished. Chris wiped his forehead.

"Phew!" he said with relief. Then he turned a stern face to Kit "WHAT, WHAT, WHAT WERE YOU DOING?!" he demanded, looking half angry, half concerned. "You could've sliced off your own hand, or worse…." he made a throat-cutting gesture with his finger across his own throat.

"I… I was just…" Kit stammered, seemingly lost for words, but then he shook it off and became stern himself. "What is that thing, and why do you have it if it's that dangerous?!"

"This is...uh..." Now Chris seems to be lost for words. "Wait, that's not the issue here, you were snooping around in my stuff, weren't you?'

"What…? NO!" Kit cried, looking indignant at that accusation. "I was just collecting your clothes for the laundry and it fell out of your sweatshirt!"

Regret filled Chris' face and he looked ashamed of himself. "I'm… I'm sorry, Kit, I shouldn't have assumed..."

"It's okay," Kit said, then he eyed the weapon in Chris' hand. "But what is that thing, and why do you have it?"

Chris held up the weapon, looking at it thoughtfully, then he sighed. "I'm turning out to be a bad secret keeper… but as you're my brother and since you discovered it, I'll tell you. This…." He held up the weapon. "...is called the D-blade, it's the weapon of choice in the organization that Dad and I joined a long time ago."

"What organization?" Kit inquired.

"You know I can't tell you that, I'm probably in enough trouble as it is for telling you this much, and what I told Baloo."

"What did you tell Baloo?" Kit asked. "Chris, are you telling him things that you're not telling me?"

"I had no choice, Kit, he saw some of the things I did to save you." Chris said. "He was a witness and so I had to explain things to him. You should've seen him after I've saved you, he was terrified of me. I hate it when people are so afraid of me like that, so I told him some things to put him at ease."

"What did you do to save me? Wait, when was I ever in danger?" Kit asked, as he had no knowledge of his free fall from the day before, just that he woke up with his head hurting with a turban of bandages wrapped around it.

"When the Air Pirates attacked, you were knocked out by the crates in the cargo area, the back door opened and you fell out. I jumped out to save you, but those dumb pirates made things difficult for me and I had to resort to using my powers to get them out of my way and save you."

"Powers? What powers?"

For an answer, Chris held out a hand to Kit, the palm of his hand facing him and Kit found himself floating off the floor and rose up halfway between ceiling and floor. He struggled and kicked, but there was nothing physical holding him up and therefore, there was nothing to kick and struggle against.

"Ahh! What is this? Put me down!" Kit cried.

"This is what I had to do to stop you from falling." Chris said, lowering Kit back down to the floor, slowly and gently.

Kit stared at Chris as if he'd grown an extra head. "Chris… how did you do that?"

"I've learned to access and harness the Heart," Chris said. "The Heart is the power source of all living things. Anyone can use the Heart, but most people don't even know it's there. And don't ask me to teach you how, I'm a student, not a master. And as a student, I'm forbidden to teach others how to use it."

"Aw nuts," Kit said, looking disappointed. "So where can I find a master?"

"Ask Dad, I'm not answering any more questions." Chris said firmly. "I'm sorry, Kit, but we're heading into territories that I can't talk about."

"Okay, Chris…" Kit sighed, now knowing how Baloo must have felt when he himself had refused to answer questions about his own past, but understood that there are things that one simply cannot talk about. Still he cannot help but feel a little annoyed. "But what CAN you talk about?"

"What… what do you mean?" Chris asked nervously, sensing Kit's annoyance. He had always been very reluctant to anger his Dad, and the fact that Kit looked more like their Dad than he did, did not helped.

"You can't talk about your adventures, you can't talk about this group that you and Dad are members of, you can't talk about the Heart….What CAN you talk about?! Why do you have to be so secretive?"

"Kit..." Chris said in a trembling voice, understanding Kit's frustration perfectly—it is exactly how he would feel if he were in Kit's position. "You don't think I want to tell you? I do! I want to tell you everything! But… I can't…."

Kit saw how this was making Chris upset, he sighed and hugged Chris. "I'm sorry, Chris. If you really can't tell me, I won't pressure you anymore." Kit still wanted to know some things, but not if it makes Chris this upset and pressured.

"Thanks, Kit." Chris said gratefully, hugging Kit back. "But maybe I'll be able to tell you stuff soon. I don't know when, but maybe soon."

They broke apart and Kit picked Chris' and his laundry. "If you want breakfast, come downstairs with me." he said, leading the way out of the room, down the stairs, through the office and into the back room that served as kitchen and laundry room combined, with a foldable paper wall between them.

They stepped around this paper wall into the laundry area. the washing machine wasn't what Chris expected. It seems to be an opened metal gasoline barrel with an aluminium bowl in the center. He supposed that this was what washing machines were like in the nineteen-thirties. He watched as Kit put the clothes into the bowl, and then filled it with warm soapy water from the kitchen sink, then he turned the bowl on its' side and then he turned the machine on. Chris watched as the bowl begin to spin within the barrel, like a concrete mixer in a barrel. Even though he had already seen what washing machines would one day evolve into, it was still interesting to see what the early washing machines started out as.

"What, you've never seen a washing machine before?" Kit asked with a chuckle.

"Huh? Oh, of course I have…" Chris said. "Just not one quite like that…" he added under his breath.

"Well, what do you want for breakfast?" Kit asked, walking around the paper wall that separate the laundry room from the kitchen. He opened cabinet and took out a few boxes of cereal. "We got cereal, we got oatmeal... or we could cook up some eggs and bacon if you want."

"Eggs and bacon, please." Chris said.

After breakfast, Wildcat came in, looking confused and scratching his head.

"Good morning, Wildcat. Is the _Sea D uck_ ready to fly?" Kit asked as he washed the dishes.

"Huh? Oh! Oh, yeah, she's more ready to fly than she's ever been!" Wildcat exclaimed. "But strangely, I couldn't work on her."

"Why not?" Kit asked, looking confused. "You always find something about the Sea Duck that needs working on."

"Not this time…." Wildcat said sadly. "The Sea Duck's perfect, can't find a thing to fix, man."

"Oh, well maybe you'll find something else to fix… like, uh…." Kit paused for a moment to think of something that needed fixing. "Oh yeah! The radio! The record player part of the radio needs a new needle."

Wildcat gasped. "The record player's sick?!"

"Yeah, the record player is very sick." Kit confirmed, obviously playing on Wildcat's childish side.

"Have no fear, little guy, Uncle Wildcat's coming!" Wildcat called out before running from the kitchen

"He didn't even notice me…." Chris pouted.

Wildcat then stuck his head through the kitchen doorway. "Oh, Kit, who's your friend?" he asked.

Kit gave Chris a smile that plainly said: 'he noticed you.'

"Oh right, Wildcat, I'd like you to meet my brother, Chris Cloudkicker."

"Oh wow! I didn't know you had a brother!" Wildcat exclaimed excitedly.

"Neither did I, until very recently.

"Well, nice to meet ya, Chris." Wildcat said.

"Likewise," Chris said as they shook hands.

"Well, I better go tend to that sick record player. See ya around!" Wildcat said, and he left.

Chris gave Kit a worried look "Is he okay?" he asked, clearly referring to Wildcat's sanity.

"Don't worry, he's harmless." Kit said reassuringly. "Just think of him as an oversized kid who is really good at fixing things."

Chris paused for a moment, evidently trying to think of any other ways to see Wildcat as in his head, then he smiled and said: "I guess that makes it easier to interact with him."

"Don't worry, you're going to like everybody here," Kit assured him, leading him to the breakfast table, fixed him a plate of eggs and bacon and then they both sat down. "Now, the first person you need to know about is our boss, Miss Rebecca Cunningham. Your first impression of her would probably be that she's a little money-hungry and a crazy schemer, that she's scary, especially when she's mad."

"Is she?" Chris asked with an raised eyebrow, taking a bite of scrambled egg.

"A little, yeah…." Kit admitted with a nervous chuckle, as if scared Rebecca might hear him. "But don't worry, her barks are worse than her bites, plus Baloo usually take all the heat from her and she burns herself out before she gets around to yelling at me."

"Ahh, the angry, demanding, in-your-face kind of boss, right?" Chris said, tearing a piece of bacon with his teeth and chewing it.

"Kind of, but she can be real sweet and nice when she's not angry," Kit said, trying to highlight Rebecca's best quality "You'll want her as a friend though, she'll go to the ends of the earth for ya, even Baloo."

"But how can those two be friends when she yells at him a lot?" Chris asked.

"Well that's because Baloo is a great friend and pilot…. but a lousy employee to work with…" Kit said reluctantly, obviously not wanting to say anything negative about Baloo. "She just wants Higher for Hire to be successful, and Baloo makes it difficult for her."

"How come?" Chris asked, taking a sip of orange juice.

"Well, he's just used to more of a free-spirited life, carefree and no troubles," Kit said. "Flying is what life's all about, he told me. Only working when he have to and no more. But that's what led to him losing his business and his plane to Miss Cunningham in the first place."

"The kind that loves to party, eat and sleep, isn't he?" Chris said casually. "And hates work?"

"Yeah, but how did you…?"

"I know a similar guy back at home, so I know his type." Chris said. "Dad didn't want me hanging around him too much though, he didn't want that laziness and allergy to hard work to rub off on me."

"Baloo may be a lazy slob, he's got a heart of gold." Kit said. "Why don't you go with him on this morning's delivery and see for yourself?"

"Okay, but what about you, aren't you going too?" Chris asked, confused.

"Nah, I got school today." Kit said, grabbing his backpack and heading out the door. "Good luck with getting Baloo up for work."

"Thank—wait, what?" Chris said, wondering what Kit meant by that. But Kit was already gone. "What did he mean, good luck with getting Baloo up for—" he stopped suddenly as the realization hit him, and he groaned. "Oh gosh, no…. Don't tell me he's a…"

The scene flipped over to a scene of Chris standing over Baloo, who was snoring loudly in his bed.

"...Heavy sleeper..." Chris finished in a resigned voice. "C'mon Baloo, time to get up!" he said, shaking him.

"Nothin' getting me outta this bed…" Baloo said in his sleep as he rolled over, drawing the covers tightly around him.

"C'mon, Baloo, you gotta get up!" Chris said more urgently, pulling on his arm, but Baloo was an immovable rock and slept on, completely oblivious to Chris' attempts to rouse him.

Chris thought for a moment, tapping his head with a finger, thinking hard. Then he snapped his fingers as an idea came to him.

"Ooh, this is so cruel, but it's probably the only thing that'll work…." Chris said with a hint of remorse as he climbed up on top of Baloo. Then he started bouncing up and down on top of Baloo while singing a song in a bright and cheery voice. "GET UP, GET UP, IT'S MORNING, IT'S TIME FOR RISE AND SHINE!"

"Ohhh...oh no…." Baloo groaned, covering his head with the pillow. "Anything but that, kid, anything but that…." he begged Chris.

Encouraged that his song seems to be working, Chris kept on bouncing on Baloo like a Gummi Bear while still singing.

"GET UP, GET UP, IT'S MORNING, IT'S TIME FOR RISE AND SHINE!" Chris continued the song, snatching away Baloo's pillow and begin whacking him over the head with it, while still bouncing up and down on top of him. "GET UP, GET UP, GET OUTTA BED! GET UP, GET UP, YOU SLEEPYHEAD! GET UP, GET UP, IT'S MORNING, IT'S TIME FOR RI—"

"ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT!" Baloo yelled, desperate for Chris to stop that irritatingly annoying song. "I'm up, I'm up! Just please don't ever sing that song again…" He sat up, causing Chris to slide off him onto the bed.

"Sorry, Baloo," Chris said sheepishly. "I tried other ways to wake you up, but you were sleeping like a log! How does Kit wake you up?"

"He just whisper the magic word in my ear and I'm up in a heartbeat." Baloo said, sounding annoyed.

"Oh, and what is the magic word?" Chris asked.

"Just the name of any kind o' food he happens to be thinking of." Baloo said.

Chris smacked himself on the forehead, "Of course, why didn't I think of that? Okay then, tomorrow I'll give that a try, but if I doesn't work, I'm singing that song again."

"Oh no, please don't…" Baloo groaned, with his hands over his head.

"So, where are we going today?" Chris asked, the light of adventures shining in his eyes.

"We?" Baloo questioned. "As in you and me?"

"Well yeah, I mean, who else is gonna be your navigator while Kit is at school?" Chris said. "Besides, I prefer to be in a plane than being stuck here on the ground all day."

"And you're volunteering?" Baloo sighed. "Okay, let's go see what Becky has for us today."

Right on cue, they heard the front door open and then Rebecca's voice floated up the stairs. "Baloo! I need you down here now!"

Chris got excited at hearing her voice, he could hardly contain himself as he did a little jig. "Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy! It's like we're soldiers, about to assigned to a deadly mission!" he then gasped dramatically. "We may not come back alive!"

"Yeah, pretty much." Baloo said as he exited the bedroom, smiling in amusement at Chris' antics.

Downstairs, Rebecca sat behind her desk, going over some papers while she talked on the phone.

"Yes, we have your cargo and we're just about to ship it over to you. Yes...yes...yes, thank you. Bye-bye." Rebecca hung up the phone and looked up to see Baloo and Chris approaching her desk. "Ah, Baloo, great! You're up much earlier than usual!" she said, sounding pleased.

"Yeah, someone thought it'd be very funny to bounce on me while singing a very annoying song." Baloo said a little grumpily, glancing at Chris, who grinned apologetically.

"Well it certainly look like the song did its' job, Baloo." laughed Rebecca. "What was it?" she asked Chris.

"No, don't tell—" Baloo started to say to Chris, but too late.

Chris did a little jig as he sung in a bright and cheery voice. "GET UP, GET UP, IT'S MORNING! IT'S TIME FOR RISE AND SHINE!"

"STOP, STOP!" Baloo cried, his hands over his ears. "I'm not listening! Hmm-hmm, hmm, hmm-hmm, I can't hear a thing!"

Rebecca laughed behind her hand. "Watch out, Baloo, or I may put Chris in charge of waking you up every morning... with...that... song." she said, putting a heavy emphasis on the last three words.

Baloo groaned. "Oh please, Beckers, no! Have a heart! It's torture!"

"Sorry Baloo, but an early bird pilot is just what this business needs and if that song gives me an early bird pilot, then so be it." Rebecca said, going into full businesswoman mode.

"Oh now look what you've done," Baloo said to Chris, looking annoyed. "Yer song will be the death of me."

"So get up, then I wouldn't have to sing that song." Chris retorted playfully.

"Yeah, Baloo, get up, then you'd actually be making this business even more money!" Rebecca said,

"But more money just means more work," Baloo protested, groaning. "I can't have too much work, Rebecca, it's bad for my image."

"But it's good for Higher for Hire's image." Rebecca shot back.

"Alright, alright, I get the message." Baloo said, now looking defeated. "So where am I shipping this cargo to?"

"Right, you're shipping food and medical supplies to…."

"Thembria?!" Chris said an hour later, as he and Baloo were flying over oceans and archipelagos in the _Sea Duck_."We're going to Thembria?!"

"For the third time, Chris, yes!" Baloo said as he was piloting the plane while Chris sat in Kit's usual seat with Kit's maps and compass spread out across his lap.

"But Dad always said Thembria's a dangerous place for kids." said Chris.

"It's a dangerous place for anybody," Baloo said darkly. "I don't usually take Kit with me to that part of the world, but Becky insisted you come with me to make sure I get there faster. Just stick close to me and you'll be fine."

A few hours later, as they flew further and further north, Chris begin to notice a distinct drop in temperature. It grew colder and colder the further they went. Chris shivered, hugging himself for warmth, He then looked out of his window to see what look like icy mountains and snowy terrains below.

"Brrr! So this is Thembria… A bit cold for my liking…" Chris said, then he noticed his breath was a little foggy mist in front of his mouth. "Hey, I can see my breath!" he said, blowing a little air just to see more of that foggy mist from his mouth, he was fascinated by this as he had rarely been to cold places.

"Yeah, that's Thembria for ya." Baloo said, "You cold?" he asked, noticing Chris' shiver and self-hugging.

Chris' teeth chattered as he nodded, wrapping his arms tighter around himself. "Uh-huh."

Baloo set a crowbar on the control yoke, got up, went into the cargo hold and came back with a brown leather flight coat.

"Here, put this on," Baloo said, smiling as he handed Chris the flight coat. "It'll keep ya warm."

"Th-th-th-thanks!" Chris said through chattering teeth. He put on Baloo's coat. It was rather large on him, the sleeves were too long for his arms and his hands only comes up a little past the elbows, but Chris didn't care, he wrapped it around himself like a blanket. He sighed with relief. "Ahh, that's better."

"Guess you haven't learned to tolerate cold weather like Kit had." Baloo observed as he sat back down in his seat, removing the crowbar from the control yoke and resume piloting the plane himself.

"What?" Chris said, astonished. "How can anyone tolerate this cold temperature?"

"Well Kit had ta fend fer himself as a kid, you know, I guess he's been through a few cold winters." Baloo said sadly "He's been to Thembria with me a few times, wearing nothing but his sweatshirt, and he seems to tolerate the cold pretty well. At least his teeth didn't chatter and he didn't hug himself for warmth like you're doing,"

"Yeah, well I haven't been to cold places very often." Chris said, feeling better with the coat on. "Dad's like a bird himself, he always flies south for the winter, so I wasn't exposed to cold weather that much growing up. And I thought you said you don't usually bring Kit here, so why do you now say he's been here a few times?"

"Because he has. Look, what I meant was, I don't bring him to Thembria if I could help it." Baloo explained. "Once, he came here on his own to learn to fly a plane when Thembria lowered the piloting age to twelve, and that was because ol' Spiggy needed a bunch of small people to fly those tiny _Thunderyak_ …"

The rest of the flight passed with Baloo telling Chris the whole story of Kit going to flight school in Thembria.

"Wow, my brother really flew an airplane?" Chris said in awe, then he looked down sadly. "It must have been terrifying to him, flying towards a mountain while having trouble pulling up… and trying to take off with a bunch of tanks on his tail."

"Yeah," Baloo agreed. "That was a close one, it scared me too, but I had ta keep a cool head while I coached Kit away from that mountain. Man, that was a bad time for the stick to be jammed."

"I'll say," Chris agreed, looking frightened at the very thought. There is nothing worse than an uncontrollable plane in a life-threatening situation.

At last, they had landed in Thembria, Baloo and Chris disembarked the Sea Duck while the group of blue warthog soldiers begin to unload the cargo.

Baloo put an arm around Chris' shoulder and drew him close. "Stay close to me, Lil' Buddy, the last thing you wanna do is get on the wrong side of a Thembrian."

Chris didn't need telling twice, he clung himself to Baloo's side as they walked down the street through the Thembrian marketplace, unnerved by how very unfriendly and unhappy most of the people looked, going about their business with a scowl or a frown.

"Yeah, I can see why Dad never brought me here before…" Chris whispered, not wanting to be heard by the Thembrians, fearing it would make them angry at him. "Can we go home now?"

"Not yet, Lil Buddy, they're still unloading the cargoes." Baloo said gently, patting Chris' head consolingly. "Just stay with me while I check out the bargains." he said, looking at the items for sale in various booths.

As they reached the center of the town square half an hour later, they came across a giant ice statue standing in the street, with a round walkway around it.

Soldiers surrounded the ice statue, adding the finishing touches, all of this was being directed and supervised by the tiniest blue warthog Chris had ever seen, even he himself at three foot, nine inches was a head taller than him!

"Hurry up!" the tiny warthog yelled. "This statue must be done in honor of the High Marshal by this afternoon!"

"Wow," Chris said, standing next to the tiny warthog. "This statue's amazing!"

"It is?" the tiny warthog said in surprise, evidently he felt differently. "I-I mean, of course it is! After all, It is being built by yours truly; Colonel Spigot! Perhaps you've heard of me."

"Can't say I have." Chris said with an apologetic shrug. Spigot, who was all swelled up with pride, deflated at Chris' words. And then he was fuming at Chris' ignorance of who he was.

"Get out of the way," Spigot spat, walking around Chris and shoving him. "Can't you see I'm very busy at the moment?!"

"HEY!" Chris cried indignantly as he stumbled backwards into statue.

Spigot and the other Thembrians gasped in horror as the statue swayed and fell with a loud crash, breaking into a thousand pieces on the ground.

"No…." Spigot said, standing numbly over the pile of ice. "NO! My gift to the High Marshal... RUINED!" he then rounded on Chris. "YOU! You…. This is all your fault!" he yelled at Chris, poking him very hard in the chest with a finger.

"No, it wasn't!" Chris cried indignantly, rubbing the spot where Spigot had poked him. "You shoved me!"

"I did no such thing!" Spigot said, turning his back on Chris with his arms crossed. "Men, arrest this kid!"

"But you did shoved him, Colonel," Dunder said in his helpful tone.

This, of course, earned Dunder a whack on the leg from Spigot's riding crop.

"OW!" Dunder cried, hopping up and down on one leg while holding on to the other.

"Who asked you!" Spigot growled at Dunder.

"Sorry, sir."

Chris seemed shocked and angry by this treatment of Dunder, and Baloo felt he had to step in before things out way out of hand.

"Hey Spiggy, lay off the kid. He's with me." Baloo said angrily in Chris' defense, pulling Chris closer to him. "You did push him, so it's your fau—mmf!"

Dunder placed a hand over Baloo's mouth. "No, Mr. Baloo, you mustn't say anything's Colonel Spigot's fault. He'll have you shot."

"But Chris' just a kid, Dunder!" Baloo protested.

"Sadly that doesn't matter here in Thembria." Dunder said apologetically.

"Arrest the fat one too!" Spigot shouted. "No one defies Colonel Spigot and gets away with it! ...Except for the High Marshal, of course."

"Now I know why Dad never brought me here…." Chris said as the soldiers surrounded him and Baloo.

"I'm sorry," Chris said as he and Baloo sat in a jail cell, he was looking at the floor in shame. "I didn't mean to get us both arrested."

"No… no, don't beat yourself up, kid," Baloo sighed. "Knowing Spiggy, most likely he'd find some reason to arrest us anyway."

"So… what now?" Chris asked, sitting down on the bed.

"That depends, can you use the Heart to bust us outta here?" Baloo asked.

Chris looks up at Baloo with a frown. "Only as a last resort." he said seriously. "If you're thinking of escaping, we'll have to try other ways of doing it first."

"Why?" Baloo asked, sounding a little frustrated. "You could just wave your hand and the door will open."

"Baloo, the Heart is a sacred tool, it shouldn't be use on the little things that we can do without it." Chris said. "I can only use it in life-threatening situations and combat. This is the Dedi law, and as a Dedi-in-training, I must obey this law."

"C'mon, Chris, how are they going to know if you bend the rules a little?" Baloo said, sounding sneaky.

"They will know, the Grand Dedi has a way of knowing stuff like that." Chris said, with a disapproving frown.

Before they could say or do anything else, the door to the jail cell opened and Spigot walked in, flanked by two enormous, muscular soldiers.

"Alright, you two, the firing squad is ready for you," Spigot said, "It was a squeeze, but we managed to fit your execution for this afternoon, which is now." he walked up to Chris and threw a noose over his head. "Congratulations, you have the honor of going first!" he said as he tugged on the rope, tightening the noose around Chris' neck and forcing him forward to follow Spigot's lead.

"Ow! Not so tight!" Chris choked, but Spigot ignored him

"Now hold on, Spiggy!" Baloo protested angrily, charging forward. The two soldiers each grabbed one of Baloo's arms and pinned him against the wall. "You can't do this! He's just a kid!" he yelled as he struggled against the soldiers holding him.

"Oh don't you worry, once we're done with _HIM_!" Spigot said, giving Chris another tug that forced him into a bow. "...You're next."

"Ohh, when I get my hands on you, Spiggy, I'll—ughhh!" Baloo never got to finish his threat, as a soldier punched him in the face, knocking Baloo out cold and he fell to the floor.

"NO! BALOO!" Chris yell, he tried to run to Baloo's side, but was halted by his noose as Spigot tugged him back to his side. "Baloo! Get up! Please get up!"

"Shut up, you statue-wrecking hooligan," Spigot snarled as he led Chris out of the cell by the noose. "He'll be joining you in the afterlife soon enough." he ended his speech with an evil, cruel laugh.

Baloo came to, just in time to see the cell door close behind the soldiers, he quickly got up and slammed himself against the door, screaming Chris' name's through the bars of the window.

"NO! CHRIS! CHRISSSSSSSSSSSSSS!"

Chris was led outside to a wall with dozens of bullet holes in it, and a few craters here and there that looks as though a tank had shot at the wall a few times as well.

When they reached the center of the wall, Spigot stopped and turned to Chris. He placed a target sign around his neck and then turned Chris to face the guns. Several of the soldiers behind the guns looked uncomfortable about shooting a kid, but knew better than to protest against Spigot, as he would most likely have _THEM_ shot too.

Spigot walked over to stand next to the guns. "Any last words?"

"Y-yes," Chris said, looking seriously scared. "Please don't shoot me! I'm just a kid!"

These words had a powerful impact on the soldiers, who look as though they have been stabbed in the chest. They exchanged a miserable look that clearly indicated that they regretted being soldiers at that time. Dunder had actually turned his back on the scene to cry into his hands.

"You should have thought of that before you broke the statue we work so hard to build." Spigot said with an expression and tone of mocked sorrow, shocking everyone present. "Ready! AIM…."

The soldiers shook off their shock and readied the guns. Orders were orders, after all, and it would mean their deaths if they disobeyed.

"FIRE!" Spigot yelled.

Chris, frightened beyond belief, shut his eyes tight and quickly raised his hands so that through the power of the Heart, he caused the snow on the ground to rise up and formed a solid wall between himself and the guns! Even though he knew he could use the Heart to save his own life, it did not take away the fear that any twelve-year-old in this situation would feel at the prospect of being shot at.

The guns blasted at the wall of ice that Chris had formed, but the guns could not even dent the wall. While behind his wall of protection, Chris took the noose and the target sign off of his neck. He fought the urge to cry and keep himself under control as he took out his airfoil, threw it to the ground and hopped onto it. The moment his feet touched the airfoil, it glowed and rose up off the ground and he flew towards the prison.

Chris flew around the outside of the jail, looking through every window until at last, he found Baloo's jail cell. He was happy to see that Baloo was conscious again.

"Baloo!" he cried in relief.

Baloo looked up, his face was that of a man who had lived a hundred years of misery. But when he saw Chris, he was overjoyed.

"Chris!" he said, sounding so relieved. "But how did you—?"

"The Heart saved me." Chris said simply. "Hold on, I'll get ya outta there,"

"Tell the Heart to save ya sooner next time!" Baloo said as Chris waved his hand and the bars came out of the window, he then waved his hand to Baloo and Baloo floated off the floor and out through the window.

Chris then flew them both back to the airfield where the _Sea Duck_ sat. Once inside, Baloo started the engines and took off.

They were barely in the air before they had bathtubs and kitchen sinks dropping on them from above by Thembrian bombers. Baloo growled and gritted his teeth as he pulled the plane into a loop-de-loop, causing the two pursuing Thembrian planes to crash into each other! And then Baloo flew full throttle out of Thembria.

"WHEW! Made it." Baloo said, wiping his brow.

"That wasn't fun..." Chris said shakily, with his face twitching, like a dam that was about to break against the tidal wave of tears fighting to get out. And then the dam broke, and he burst into tears and cried his heart out.

"Chris…." Baloo softly, putting the plane on the crowbar autopilot before lifting the crying bear cub out of his seat and held him to his chest.

"I... I never... wanna go back...to that awful place again!" Chris sobbed into Baloo's shirt. "I was so scared!"

"I know, Lil Buddy, I know..." Baloo said soothingly as he patted Chris' head. "That's it, kid….let it all out…."

"I want my Dad…" Chris sniffed, his face still buried in Baloo's shirt.

"Okay, Lil Buddy, I'll fly us home and then you can see yer Dad." Baloo said gently, as he continued to hold Chris to his chest. "Hopefully this will convince Becky not to take on any more Thembrian clients…"

Chris continues to sob into Baloo's shirt for most of the trip home.

Later, at Higher for Hire….

"THEMBRIA?!" Kit's angry voice rang out from within the building."You took _my_ brother to THEMBRIA?! Baloo, what were you thinking?!"

"Now, now, Lil Britches, I did managed to bring him back in one piece…" Baloo said nervously, backing away from the angry bear cub with his hands held up in a defensive pose.

"But not before he had to stand in front of a _firing squad!_ " Kit roared furiously, causing Baloo to flinch. "I should have just taken him to school with me!"

Baloo gulped, trembling as he sat low in his chair. A truly angry Kit was scarier than he could have ever imagine. He did not know which was worse; Rebecca or Kit. And he shudder to think how scary Matthew would be once he gets back.

"Now, Kit, it was my fault too," Rebecca said remorsefully. "I suggested that Chris go with him as a navigator in your place."

"He could've been shot!" Kit shouted, rounding on her. "If he had _died_ , it would've been all your fault! And I'd quit Higher for Hire!"

Rebecca hid her face in her hands at those words. "You're right, Kit, I wouldn't have blamed you one bit for quitting. If that had happened to Molly, I'd be saying the same thing."

"Please don't be mad, Kit," Chris said, looking scared of Kit's anger. "I wanted to go, but now I regret going."

Kit's anger melted away upon seeing Chris' timidness towards his anger and he smiled and gave Chris a soothing hug.

"Well, at least you're okay, and that's all that matters." Kit said grudgingly.

"Yeah… Um, let's not tell Dad about this…." Chris said, "Last time something like this happened, he sent the guy responsible to the hospital in a body cast."

Kit's eyes widened in shock. "Whoa! Really? Did he really beat someone up that bad?"

"Yeah, Dad is...extremely protective of me, and if he finds out someone endangers me… body cast for them…" Chris said, shuddering at the thought of just how violent Matthew can get when he goes into full Protective Daddy mode.

Baloo gulped at that and said weakly; "Yeah, let's hope he doesn't find out…" and then his eyes rolled upwards to the back of his head and he fell back onto the floor in a faint, his fall caused a minor earthquake within the building.

"BALOO!" Kit and Rebecca gathered around him and were attempting to get him back up again, with Chris fanning him with an empty pizza box.

Baloo slowly came to, sniffing the air while Chris continues to fan him with the pizza box. "Did anyone catch the number of that pizza parlor?" He said, before passing out again.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **The washing machine described in this episode is a 1930's Savage Washing Machine, if you Google it, it's the first Youtube video listed in the results.**

 **Hope you've enjoyed this episode, they tuned for the next one.**


	5. Episode Five — The Shadow Minions

**Disclaimer: I do not own TaleSpin**

* * *

 **Episode Five**

 **The Shadow Minions**

* * *

At the Cape Suzette Real Estate office, Matthew was sitting in a chair across the desk from an elderly sheep lady. He was in the process of buying a new home for himself and Chris. He was still uncertain about Kit, whether or not he'd want to come live with them, as he seems fond of and contented with his current place of resident at Higher for Hire. Though he suspect it has a lot to do with Baloo and the bond that exists between them. But whatever the case, he and Chris needed a place to live in this world.

"Well, Mr. Cloudkicker," said the real estate lady, looking uncertain. "Most people who comes in here are looking to buy a house or a place of business. But you're looking for a...uh, sweets shop to live in, store your aircraft in and that's close to the school. ...I don't think there is such a thing. Are these two separate units or one in the same?"

"C'mon lady, I thought I was clear on that," Matthew said patiently, though it was clear his patience was wearing thin. "I want a hangar with a live-in suite. A hangar on the ground floor and a upstairs suite. Basically a plane garage with a suite on top. What is there to be misunderstood about that?"

"I'm sorry," the real estate lady said, cupping a hand to her ear. "You want a hanger and a cake with sweets on top? I think the bakery down the street can help you with that."

Matthew groaned in exasperation. "No, lady, not a hanger and a cake with sweets, a _HAN-GAR_ with an upstairs _SUITE_." he said, raising his voice slightly.

"I'm sorry? Something about a sweets shop? There's one just a block away," she said in her most helpful tone of voice, then she dug her finger into her ear to clear it of wax.

Annoyed, Matthew closed his eyes, praying for patience. Then he had an idea. He withdrew a notepad and pen from his jacket pocket, wrote: _I want a hangar with an upstairs suite,_ tore the piece of paper off and gave it to the lady, who took it and adjusted her glasses.

"Oh...!" she said, comprehension dawning on her face as she read it, then she chuckled. "Well why didn't you say so?"

Matthew gave her an annoyed stare that silently read: "...Really? ...Seriously?" His right eye twitching.

"Yes, we have one about five blocks from the school. Would you like to see it?"

Matthew gave her a nod to mean 'Yes.'

"Alright, here's the address," the real estate lady said, scribbling the address down on a piece of paper and then handing it to Matthew. "Just go to that address and the owner will meet you there."

"Okay, thanks, lady." Matthew said as he took the paper and departed.

An hour later…

"AW C'MON!" Matthew cried to the heavens as he stood in his newly purchased hangar, standing in a space surrounded by mountains of junks that looks as though they were made by a few generations of hoarders who never threw anything away. He sighed. "...I'm gonna need a bulldozer…"

Matthew begin cleaning up the hangar, first bagging up all the junks into a thousand garbage bags and throwing as many of them that would fit in the cargo hold of the _McQueen_ , when it could hold no more, Matthew closed the loading bay doors and got into the cockpit. He took off, he flew over a junkyard, the city dump, turned the nose of the plane upward and opened the loading bay doors and all the garbage bags fell out, landing on top of all the other junks. He did this ten times in a row, going back and forth between the hangar and the junkyard before the hangar was junk-free.

With all the junk gone, Matthew found an imperial staircase, he climbed up the stairs onto an half-landing and then turned to the right and climbed the second flight of stairs onto the top floor. The first thing he saw was a nice wooden rail that went from one wall to the opposite wall. And looking down over the rail, he saw the _McQueen_ sitting below him, facing the big double doors leading outside.

Matthew turned around and saw that he was in the kitchen that had a bar with a built-in sink in the center of it. The bar has four stools to sit on. Behind the bar was a stove, oven and some cupboards to store snack food and dishes. And there was refrigerator that stood off to the side of the bar against the wall.

The kitchen had an archway that opens up into the living room. Matthew was amazed at how nice and clean the living room was with nice, comfortable white carpet. He took off his boots and stepped onto the carpet. It felt good to his feet, as there were some thick paddings under the carpet.

He walked around the living room, there were a really nice matching set of sofa and armchairs, all facing the TV-size radio. He turned on the radio, just in time to hear the start of a song.

 _We'll meet again._

 _Don't know where, don't know when…_

 _But I know we'll meet again, some sunny day._

 _Keep smiling through_

 _Just like you always do_

 _'Till the blue skies drive the dark clouds far away_

 _So will you please say hello_

 _To the folks that I know_

 _Tell them I won't be long_

 _They'll be happy to know_

 _That as you saw me go_

 _I was singing this song_

As the song was playing, Matthew was looking around, checking out the two bedrooms, the bathroom and the master bedroom with a master bathroom and closet.

Again, he was amazed at how nice and clean everything was. It was as though a world-class hoarder and a world-class clean-freak were living here before. Now he had a lot of questions, like how did such a couple ever got along?

"Now then, let me see…" Matthew said, pulling out his iPhone from his pocket and scrolling down his task list. "Acquire a home, check!" he said, pressing the screen with his thumb and that item on the list was crossed out as well as check-marked. "Acquire a job… still working on that. Enroll Chris into school... still need to do that. Hide the phones…ehh, check!" he said rather reluctantly, turning off his phone.

Matthew went over to the sofa and took one of the cushions, unzipped its' cover and placed both his and Chris' iPhones inside it. He then zipped it back up and placed it back down on the sofa.

"Now, where did I put Chris' school records...?"

Later, at Cape Suzette Elementary…

Matthew sat in the hallway outside the principal's office, humming _We'll Meet Again_ to himself, while reading the newspaper.

"Oh man, I've missed these old songs…." he said with a feeling of nostalgia as he finishes the song.

"Mr. Cloudkicker," said the school secretary in a kind voice. "Mr. Pomeroy will see you now."

"Mr. Pomeroy? Wasn't he the English teacher?" Matthew asked, remembering Mr. Pomeroy from his own days as a schoolboy.

"Oh my, yes, yes he was, years ago, but now he is the principal." the secretary said.

Remembering how strict and no-nonsense Pomeroy had been, Matthew muttered; "A worthy choice of principal." as he stood up.

"I am glad you approve, Windward." Mr. Pomeroy said from the doorway of his office. Matthew cringed at the sound of his surname of birth "I had thought Kit Cloudkicker looked familiar, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it, until now. Now I see it, he's your son." he said, glaring up at Matthew with pride. "That would explain why he is such an excellent student. Come inside, we have much to discuss."

Matthew followed Mr. Pomeroy into his office and sat down in the chair in front of Mr. Pomeroy's desk. Mr. Pomeroy walked around his desk and sat down in his chair behind the desk.

"So…" Mr. Pomeroy said, locking his fingers together over his desk. "You changed your name from Windward to Cloudkicker, did you?"

"Yes sir," Matthew said, looking down at his knees, feeling intimidated by his old English teacher, now principal. "What tipped you off?

"Windward, please, a good teacher never forget their students' youthful beginnings." Mr. Pomeroy said, waving a hand. "Now, why did you changed your name?"

Matthew frowned. "I disowned my family after a series of events, after which I had my name legally changed to my son's stage name, which is Cloudkicker."

Mr. Pomeroy looks as though he wanted to ask for details, but seems to decide that this was none of his business, so he changed the subject,

"Now, I trust you would want to hear how Kit is doing in school." Mr. Pomeroy said, picking up Kit's file from his desktop and opening it.

"Yes, I would love to hear how he is doing." Matthew said, looking relieved at the change of subject..

"Well, his grades are nothing to be ashamed of," Mr. Pomeroy said, flipping through Kit's grades. "He does reasonably well in school. At first, he was struggling with spelling and history, but he's improving. Getting better all the time."

"That's good," Matthew said, feeling proud of his son.

"He behaves very well for someone of his… uh, background." Mr. Pomeroy said. "And he get along splendidly with the other students. He even tries to help those who are struggling with self-confident, like Oscar Vandersnoot and try his best to include them in his little club."

"Background?"

"He was brought up on the streets, kids of that background don't normally behave so well like Kit." Mr. Pomeroy explained. "Which brings me to my questions for you."

Matthew gulped, knowing he was about to be interrogated, questioned about his lack of involvement in Kit's life and why Kit was living with Baloo and not him. He braced himself for the interrogation.

"What was the circumstances in which you were absent from Kit's life up until now?" Mr. Pomeroy asked. "Why did he lived his life as an orphaned street kid?"

Matthew scowled, as if he was forced think of something that infuriates him. He spoke in a low and deadly voice: "During the war, I was away in combat when my wife had our sons. She died in childbirth. And then, members of my own family decided that they could not take care of twin boys, so they kept Chris and casted Kit off to the orphanage, all because Chris' eyes were prettier! Kit grew up in the orphanage, escaped and then lived out in the streets until he met Baloo. And he and Rebecca has been taking care of him since." At this point, Matthew was shaking with fury. He stood up and went over to the door. "Excuse me, I need to go punch something, I'll be right back…"

Mr. Pomeroy said nothing, he just sat there in stunned silence while he digested what Matthew had just told him. "Wh-what?" he said, coming back to his senses after Matthew had left the office.

Mr. Pomeroy stood up and faced the window behind his chair and looked out onto the school lawn where he saw Matthew storming up to a tree and stopping in front of it. Then Matthew suddenly let out a bellow like an angry bear and punched the tree so hard that all the nuts in the tree came raining down upon him. Matthew stood there for a moment, breathing heavily, the knuckle of his fist still touching the tree, his anger fading into grief. Then he fell to his knees and cried, his face buried in his other hand, obviously grieving for his wife and for himself being unable to be the father Kit deserved and for Kit having to grow up the way he did. The sound and the sight of Matthew grieving like that affected Mr. Pomeroy deeply, it was a sound like a wounded animal. And that was when Mr. Pomeroy quickly pulled down his blinds, covering his window.

Half an hour later. Matthew returned to Mr. Pomeroy's office, accompanied by the school nurse, his right hand covered in bandages. The nurse, a middle aged goose lady was patting Matthew on the back sympathetically.

"There, there, Mr. Cloudkicker, it'll be alright." she said gently, helping him into a chair..

"Thank you, Mrs. Bates. I think I'm okay now." Matthew said with a sad little smile. He then turned back to Mr. Pomeroy. "Sorry about that. I'm still not over... you know…."

Mr. Pomeroy bowed his head. "Yes, I understand. No apologies are necessary. So, am I to understand that Kit has a twin brother?"

"Yes, his name is Chris." Matthew sniffed, before blowing his nose on his handkerchief. "He's been with me the whole time I was looking for Kit. As you might understand, I could not focus all my attention on finding Kit while I had Chris' needs to tend to, especially the first few years."

"Yes, that is understandably difficult," Mr. Pomeroy agreed, "And with one son missing and the other requiring all of your attention, I'm guessing you didn't have much time to properly grieve."

Matthew confirmed it with a shake of his head.

"So back to business," Mr. Pomeroy said, his tone becoming businesslike. "You want to enroll your son, Chris into our school, is that correct?"

"Yes, that is correct," Matthew said.

"What kind of education has Chris had prior?" Mr. Pomeroy asked.

"Homeschooled, mostly. He had a few teachers here and there, but it was mostly me." Matthew said.

"Well then, I look forward to seeing the results of your teaching." Mr. Pomeroy said. "Is he a good student?"

Matthew blinked and then grinned. "Of course he is, he's _MY_ son, after all." he said with pride.

"That's what I'm afraid of…" Mr. Pomeroy muttered.

"Hey! What's that mean?" Matthew said with mocked indignation.

"Bright student as you were, you had a habit of getting bored and your boresome led you into trouble." Mr. Pomeroy said.

"Not my fault your assignments were too easy…" Matthew muttered, his arms crossed.

"And instead of sitting quietly, waiting for the rest of the class to finish, you amused yourself with paper airplanes and throwing them. As if that weren't bad enough, I had to give you detention for shooting spitballs at all the girls…"

Matthew squirm with embarrassment at that reminder, "Well, I… that was before I liked girls…." he muttered weakly.

"Hmph! Well I hope you taught your son better manners than the ones you displayed at his age." Mr. Pomeroy said, giving Matthew a stern look..

"Oh compared to me at that age, my boy is a saint!" Matthew said while making a mental note to warn Chris against shooting spitball or throwing paper airplanes in class.

"Well, we shall see," Mr. Pomeroy said, handing Matthew a folder with Chris' schedule and locker combination inside. "He starts Monday. As Kit is his brother, Kit should have no problem being his guide for the first few days. Good day to you, Mr. Cloudkicker." And with that, he bowed Matthew out of his office and Matthew took his leave.

Meanwhile, at the park...

"Alright, alright, Chris, I'll nominate you for membership." Kit said, finally giving in to his brother's begging and pleadings to be in Kit's club so he could meet all of Kit's friends. It was in the afternoon, school had been let out and Chris was there outside the school waiting for him. "But to be in the Jungle Aces, you must be able to tell us the story of at least one of your adventures."

"YAY!" Chris said, joyfully punching the air. Then he held his chin thoughtfully. "I think I can tell 'em about that time Dad and I… no, can't talk about that one, it's classified… Maybe that time we… no, can't talk about that one either… Oh gosh, this is so frustrating, so many great adventures, so few I can tell."

"...you just had one yesterday…" Kit reminded him, looking a little annoyed that Chris didn't think of it yet. "Remember the freezing cold, the soldiers who nearly shot you? The great escape? That's an adventure."

"Yeah, but I used…" Chris looked around, checking that no one was listening before whispering; "...the you-know-what, I can't talk about that."

"So then leave that part out." Kit said simply.

"But they'll want to know how I escaped." Chris pointed out.

"Yeah... good point." Kit said, he thought for a moment and then he shrugged. "Just replace the part of you using the Heart with something else, like maybe you let out a rebel yell that caused an avalanche to fall on top of your executioners. Yeah, that'd be great!"

"But won't that be lying?" Chris said, who did not like lying if he could help it.

"At this point, it's the only story that you can even mention to me," Kit pointed out. "Are there really any stories you have that isn't top secret?"

Chris thought long and hard, finally he answered truthfully; "No... not really."

"Then use that story and replace the Heart with an avalanche." Kit said. "Trust me, they won't know anything that happens there. We don't get any news from Thembria, it's really up to them to believe it, but they can't really verify anything from any sources outside of Thembria."

"O-okay, Kit, if you say so," Chris said, digging his toe nervously into the ground, looking unconvinced that lying was really the best way to go.

"Look, Chris, I don't want you to have to lie either," Kit said, putting an comforting arm around Chris' shoulders. "But it is true that you went to Thembria and that you were almost executed. But if you have to keep the Heart a secret, you'll have to lie a little bit. I know, I've had to keep a lot of secrets myself."

Looking a bit sad, Chris said; "I hope a day will come when we can spill all our secrets to each other…"

"Me too, Chris, me too." Kit said as he led Chris to a junkyard, and led him to a little clubhouse that looks as though it was put together with the planks and pieces of lumber that can be found amongst the surrounding junks. The door to the club was actually a car door. "Stay right here, when we're ready for you, I'll call you."

"Okay, Kit…" Chris said as Kit entered the clubhouse. As he stood there waiting to be called inside, he reharshed his Thembrian adventure in his head. Now that he thought of it, Kit was right; the avalanche would be a great substitute for the Heart.

Inside the clubhouse, the Jungle Aces were chatting or roughhousing before the meeting starts, Kit and Ernie stood a little apart from the others and Kit was whispering into Ernie's ear.

"Okay everybody, time to start the meeting." Ernie said over the hubbub.

Then the boys broke into their club's anthem:

 _"Pick them up! Knock them down! Hit them hard and make them frown! Over sea! In the sky!_

 _Jungle Aces flying high! FLYYYY ACES!"_

"Okay, guys, okay!" Ernie retook his position behind podium, banging a small wooden mallet upon it and silent fell. "The Jungle Aces' Secret Midnight Club will now come to order. New business; Who wants to present a friends of his for membership?"

Kit kicked an old car seat off the stage and pulled back the curtain, revealing a car door. Cranking the window down, he called; "Come on in, Chris!"

Chris climbed in through the window and looked around. When he saw that there were only five boys in the clubhouse, he became a bit more relaxed. He had been expecting at least a dozen of them.

"Hi guys," Chris said, approaching the podium and giving a small wave. "My name is Chris Cloudkicker, I'm the twin brother of Kit Cloudkicker and I'd like to join your club."

The Jungle Aces looked over at Kit.

"You never told us anything about having a brother." Ernie said, speaking for the club.

"I've only just met him recently." Kit said truthfully. "For reasons unknown to me, I was separated from him and my Dad shortly after I was born. It took them years, but they finally found me."

"Well I'm sure he had lots of adventures if he spent all this time looking for ya." said the hippo boy.

"Yeah!" echoes the rabbit boy.

"TELL US! TELL US! TELL US!" they all chanted together.

"Okay, okay," Chris chuckles, waving for order. "I'll tell you about my most recent adventure." He then took on a dramatic pose and voice as he begin his tale. "There I was, in icy cold Thembria with Baloo, we went out into the streets, where we met Colonel Spigot, who was bossing these men around, making them build an ice statue. He bumped into me and then he _shoved_ me into the ice statue, knocking it over and it fell and broke!"

The boys let out cries of outrage at that.

"Wait, wait… It gets worse!" Chris continued his tale, and the boys listened in hushed silent. "When the ice statue broke, he put all the blame on _ME_ and had _ME_ thrown in prison along with Baloo!"

The boys' cries of outrage got louder this time.

"But wait...it gets even worse!" Once again, the boys listened in hushed silent, gazing at Chris in awe. "He sentenced me to _DEATH_! And led me to the firing squad!"

The boys all gasped in horror, their hands over their mouths.

"How did you get out of _THAT_?!" Ernie demanded with awed respect in his voice.

"I just took a deep breath," Chris said, demonstrating the action by inhaling very deeply. "And let out the loudest rebel yell I could muster. My yell caused a huge avalanche and all of my would-be executioners were covered in thick layers of snow and ice. That's when I made my escape, freed Baloo and together, we flew out of Thembria! ...And that's my adventure."

There was total and stunned silence in the club, and the boys erupted into cheers, applause and whooping.

"That was some adventure!" Ernie said, patting Chris on the back. Then he turned to the club members. "All in favor of admitting Chris Cloudkicker into our club, say aye!"

"AYE!" cried all the boys and since it was the majority, Ernie saw no need to instruct them to say nay if they oppose.

"That's the majority, Chris is officially our newest member!" Ernie announced. "Welcome to the club, Ace!" he said to Chris, then he placed a helmet made from a cooking pot gently on Chris' head.

Chris was very happy indeed, he was accepted! It felt so good to be included. He leapt into the air with loud cry of "YA-HOO!"

"Now come up here one by one and introduce yourselves to our newest member!" Ernie instructed the Jungle Aces.

Kit came first, shaking Chris' hand. "Welcome to the Jungle Aces, brother." he said before pulling Chris into a brotherly embrace.

"Thanks Kit," Chris said, hugging Kit back..

They broke apart, Kit gave Chris a salute before moving aside for the next boy in line to come up and welcome Chris.

The cheetah boy came up and shook Chris' hand. "Hi, I'm Ernie, the club's moderator. If you have any problems within the club, let me know, and I will personally take care of it."

"Okay, thank!" Chris said, "Nice to meet you, Ernie."

Ernie gave him a salute before moving aside for the next person in line.

The hippo boy stepped forward and shook Chris' hand. "Hi, I'm Oliver! Nice to meet you. I hope you'll enjoy our club!"

"I'm sure I will, thanks Oliver." Chris said with a smile. Oliver gave him a salute and then stepped aside.

Next came the rabbit boy. He shook Chris' hand and said: "Hi, I'm Toby, nice to meet ya, Chris!"

Chris chuckles; "Likewise."

Toby saluted him and then hopped away. And finally, the vulture boy stepped forward and shook Chris' hand with a feathery hand.

"I'm Charles," the vulture boy said. "Man, that was some quick thinking on your part. You showed them Thembrians who's boss!"

"Well I don't mind telling ya; it was deathly terrifying." Chris admitted sheepishly.

"Eh," Charles shrugged. "Don't worry about it, even the bravest guy gets scared sometime."

After the introductions were over, they had a brief meeting, discussing topics related to the club, and then they went outside and played shootout, which was mostly boys jumping out at each other, pointing their fingers at each other and making gun noises.

Chris, who was used to laser tag and Nerf guns, found the game extremely dull, it was boring and not at all exciting without being able to fire a series of foam darts at each other, but he pretended to have fun and enjoy himself

At sunset, they ended their game and said their goodbyes before departing to their respective homes.

Kit and Chris walked side by side, heading to the harbor, where Higher for Hire was located.

"That was fun, wasn't it?" Kit said.

"Yeah, great fun…" Chris said unenthusiastically.

This unenthusiasm did not go unnoticed by Kit, who stopped. "What? But I thought you were having a great time."

Chris gave a deep sigh, clearly disappointed himself for not being able to hide his true feelings from Kit.

"Okay, I'm not gonna lie to you, Kit, but that shooting game we played was capital B boring!" Chris said. "I mean, what's a shooting game without any toy guns to play with?"

"Chris, most of those kids are poor!" Kit said sternly, as though he thought Chris was being insensitive to poor people. "They can't afford toy guns, they can barely buy the clothes they wear, why else do you think we built our clubhouse and hang out in the junkyard?"

These words hit Chris like a ton of bricks, he wished he'd said something different.

"I-I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean it that way, I didn't know!" Chris cried, clearly upset with himself now.

"Yeah, whatever." Kit said, who was clearly unhappy with Chris at the moment, and he walked on, leaving Chris behind.

Looking indignant now, Chris ran pass Kit and stopped Kit by placing his hands on Kit's shoulder.

"No, Kit, I'm not having this!" Chris said just as sternly as Kit had been with him a moment ago. "I will NOT be made to feel punished for being honest with you! You asked me a question, I gave you an honest answer, and then you got mad! I said I was sorry, I didn't know they were poor!"

If Chris thought this would soften Kit up and make him see the error of his way, he was sorely mistaken. Kit remain stubborn as he shoved pass Chris, bumping shoulders and walking on.

Chris was shocked by this, he stood frozen for a moment before he sniffed as tears begin to make their appearance. He felt like he lost his brother all over again, after so many years of looking for him. He fell to his knees and cried on the pavement.

Kit came to a halt when he heard Chris crying, he turned around and saw him, crying on the pavement. Remorse and sympathy in equal measure swelled up inside him. He sighed before approaching Chris slowly, feeling worse with every step. He only wanted to teach Chris a lesson, not make him cry! He felt terrible for making his brother cry.

Kit knelt down beside Chris, who was shaking with sobs. He put a hand on Chris' shoulder.

"Chris, please… don't cry… I'm...I'm sorry, I guess I went too far." Kit said in a gentle voice.

"I said I was sorry!" Chris sobbed. "But you didn't care! My apologies meant nothing to you!"

"Y-yeah…" Kit said in a shaky voice, feeling Chris' words stabbing him like knives. "I'm sorry, Chris, I didn't mean to make you upset… Look, I handled that wrong, please forgive me… I-I'm new at this whole brother thing."

Chris calmed down a little bit, enough to raise his head and look at Kit, tears still pouring from his blue eyes.

"Wh-what?"

Kit sighed as he sat down next to Chris. "I've never had a brother before—no, I've never _known_ I have a brother before now," Kit corrected himself. "I don't know what to do with a brother, there's no manuals to brotherhood. How am I supposed to treat a brother?"

Sitting up, wiping his tears on his sleeves, Chris said. "Basically like a best friend who lives with you."

"But that's the thing, Chris," Kit said. "You appeared in my life too suddenly for me to think of you as a best friend. I don't know you all that well. I need time to adjust to all of this. You can't expect me to be the perfect brother the moment you'd find me. I've been having to make a lot of quick adjustments over the last few days and I still feel a bit overwhelmed by my Dad and brother suddenly showing up out of nowhere! It's a lot to take in and there's still a lot to adjust to."

Chris thought for a moment, thinking of how he'd feel if he were in Kit's shoes, which he found difficult to do, not knowing Kit's past other than what Kit told him so far.

"Y-yeah… I guess I can understand that." Chris said.

"And all those secrets of yours doesn't help." Kit added, frowning. "How do you expect me to connect with you when you can't tell me anything?"

"I...I'm sorry! That's not my fault!" Chris cried. "Dad and I both have orders to keep things classified and top secret."

"Living out on the streets taught me not to trust people with a lot of secrets," Kit went on. "You do realize how much I'm going against my own instincts by trusting you despite all the secrets, right? It doesn't make things easier for me."

Chris sniffed and started crying again. But this time, Kit hugged him and patted him on the head.

"Please don't cry, Chris…" Kit said gently. "I'm not trying to upset you, I'm just trying to get you to see things from my point of view. If I've gone with my instincts, I'd lose you in the streets, and trust me, there are plenty of places to hide. I can even hide in plain sight if I wanted to."

"Well then, why haven't you?" Chris asked. "If you can't trust me, then why are you still here?"

"I told you the day we met," Kit said patiently. "You and I look too similar to be anything other than family, we might've been brothers, or cousins at least! After all these years, I finally found surviving members of my family! I wasn't gonna let you go without first getting to know you. But in doing so, I had to overcome a lot of my distrust issues. I think being with Baloo helped with that a lot "

"Baloo is basically your trust therapist." Chris said, chuckling.

Kit couldn't help chuckling himself. "Yeah, I guess he is."

The two boys smiled at each other and then Kit offered Chris a hand and pulled him to his feet. They continued to walk towards Higher for Hire with their arms around each other's shoulders.

As they neared the building, Chris suddenly came to a halt.

"Chris, what—?" Kit began, who was forced to come to a halt along with Chris since they still had their arms draped around each other.

"I felt...a disturbance…" Chris said, looking deadly serious and looking around. "But no… they can't be here, too...!"

"What can't be here?" Kit asked, bewildered. But now that he stopped walking, Kit too could sense that something wasn't right about their surroundings. Something about it seems eerie, it gave Kit the creeps.

"Kit, get behind me." Chris said, stretching out his hand to the side. The D-blade flew out from under his sweatshirt and into his hand. The moment he grabbed it, the long blue laser blade shot up, at the same time, his sweatshirt was instantly replaced with a tan-colored Dedi gi. He held the D-blade in a baseball stance while allowing his senses to locate more of them, "There's more than one…. Dozens of them... "

"Should we run?" Kit asked, who now sensed a threatening presence nearby. He had noticed Chris' sudden change of clothes, but was more concerned about the unseen threats nearby to comment on it.

"Won't do any good, you can't run from shadows." Chris said, sounding focused as he readied his D-blade for combat. "It's sunset, that's their favorite time of day."

" _WHAT_ are they?" Kit asked, and then he saw them! It was like watching dozens of black blotches filling up with air like balloons as the shadows on the ground all rose up off the ground and became physical monstrous beings with red, glowing eyes. He heard a series of whirling hummings and looked over his shoulder to see Chris swinging his D-blade around at these shadow creatures as they made a grab for them, but they dissolved into nothingness when the D-blade hits them

"No time, just stick to close to me." Chris sad, batting away at another shadow figure and then another. He then directed his hand at Kit, and suddenly Kit found himself being lifted off the ground by an invisible force and set up on the roof of a nearby building.

With Kit safely on top of a building, Chris could now focus all of his attention on the shadow creatures. He lept over them, striking them while doing a cartwheel in mid air, and landing on his feet, he swung at another. A dozen shadow beings vanished on the spot from that maneuver!

Using the Heart, Chris summoned some trash can lids to him and they flew around him, and whenever the shadow creatures attack, the flying trash can lids would deflect the attacks, shielding Chris from a group of them while he focuses on taking them out instead of switching back in forth from the offensive to the defensive.

"Whoa..." Kit said in awe as he leaned over the roof's edge to watch the flashing lights of Chris' D-blade as it made short work of those shadow things. Chris' swordsmanship seems to be more impressive to Kit than the likes of the Fox Bandit (a fox man dressed as Zorro, the TaleSpin version of him) They could not even touch Chris, not with all the trash can lids taking all the damages for him, and they were gone before their hands even reached him!

Chris' movements were beginning to slow down as he exhausted himself, the trash can lids fell to the ground with series of echoing _clang._ The shadow creatures seized on this moment of weakness and with one swipe of its' arm, a shadow creature sent Chris flying across the pavement. The moment he hit the ground, the D-blade flew out of his hand and slid across the pavement down an alley.

"CHRIS!" Kit screamed as Chris lay sprawled on the pavement, struggling to get up as the shadow creatures closed in around him. "Chris, get up!" and suddenly an idea came to him, he took out his airfoil and with a flick of his wrist, the airfoil spread out into its' boomerang shape. He threw the airfoil at the shadow creature that was nearest to Chris and it hit the back of its' head. It turned around and looked up at Kit. "YOU LEAVE MY BROTHER ALONE, YOU CREEPS! ...uh-oh…" The shadow creatures glared up at him with glowing red, menacing eyes and they all turned and begin moving towards him! They blend in on the outer walls of the building and quickly skimmed up to the roof where Kit was.

"Kit… no..." Chris moaned weakly, he struggled to get up, but the shadow creature that had hit him knocked the wind out of him. "Can't… get up..." he muttered as he reached into his gi. "Gotta have… a Gummiberry bean... " he extracted his little pill box that contains three maroon-colored beans. He open it and took out a single bean and popped it into his mouth. He closed the box and put it back into his gi as he chewed up the bean and then swallowed it.

Chris jumped to his feet, feeling super strong! He raised his hand and the D-blade rose up off the ground and flew back into his hand from ten feet away, and then he recalled the trash can lids to once again act as his shields..

"Alright, Shadow Minions… _NOW_ you're gonna get it!" Chris ran at the wall and then jumped at it. He bounced off that wall and then another, going up higher and higher until he was on the rooftop where Kit was surrounded by Shadow Minions!

The Shadow Minions were almost upon Kit when they vanished, having been slain by Chris' D-blade. Kit had his eyes shut tight and his arms over his head, but when nothing happened to him, he opened his eyes and saw Chris in combat, once again bouncing around and over the Shadow Minions' attacks while attacking them at the same time. Chris was once again surrounded by flying trash can lids to take the hits for him while he focuses on the attack.

The fight moved from rooftop to rooftop and finally back on the ground again. Kit was watching all of this from his own rooftop in awe of what he was seeing.

Finally, with one swipe of his D-blade, the last of Shadow Minions vanished and all was quiet…

Then Chris drew a symbol on the pavement with his D-blade that consists of three circles joined together in the shape of a mouse's head. As he drew the symbol, Chris was chanting something in a strange language.

Once the symbol was complete, Chris raised the D-blade up with both hands, the blade pointing down at the ground.

"Shadow Minions of Magica De Spell! In the name of Grand Dedi Mickey, I banish you from ever taking shape in this world again!" Chris yelled as he stabbed the center of the three circle symbol he'd made in the pavement. The moment his blade struck the symbol, the blue laser blade sent a pulse wave that could be felt throughout the entire city of Cape Suzette! An invisible dome-like barrier now cover the city. "There, the Shadow Minions can't appear in this city again," Chris said, sounding tired and almost out of breath. His D-blade switched off as he fell to his knees.

Kit used the fire escape to get down from his place of safety on the roof. He rushed to Chris' side and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Chris, are you okay?"

"Yea... " Chris panted. "Just gimme a minute, I'll be fine. Using the Heart to move faster than what I'm normally capable of, really takes a lot out of me."

"Was that what you were doing?" Kit said in awe. "Chris, that was awesome! You moved faster than the Fox Bandit and he moves pretty fast!:

"The Fox what?" Chris asked, looking confused as his French sky blue sweatshirt appear back on his body, replacing his Dedi gi.

"The Fox Bandit, you haven't heard of him?" When Chris shook his head, Kit grinned. "Guess I know which movies to take ya to when we hit the theaters later. But for now, I gotta ask; WHAT WERE THOSE THINGS?!"

Chris groaned, knowing that this was the end of his secret-keeping with Kit. He was relieved though, but he still worries that he might spill more than he should.

"They're Shadow Minions. Shadows of everything, brought to life by an evil witch known as Magica De Spell."

"Who's Magica De Spell?" Kit asked.

"An evil sorceress who's trying to take over the world." Chris said simply.

"And what was that pulse wave I felt after you beat all those minions?"

"That was me invoking the Sphere of Protection over the city. I know I said world, but it really only protects just this city." Chris said, looking sheepish. "As long as the Sphere of Protection is up, no Shadow Minions can appear in the city. We're safe, for now."

Kit pulled Chris to his feet. "C'mon, let's get to Higher for Hire, I gotta see if Baloo and Miss Cunningham are alright!"

Both boys ran the rest of the way to the Higher for Hire. They ran around to the front of the building and they found Matthew and Baloo standing in front of building, looking out at the gap in the cliff.

"DAD!" Chris cried delightedly, running out towards Matthew.

Matthew turned around in time to catch Chris as he threw himself at him. "Chris, good! You're safe!" Matthew said, hugging his son. "Was that you casting the Sphere of Protection on the city?"

"Baloo!" Kit cried joyfully as he ran at Baloo and jumped into his arms, causing Matthew to feel a pang of sadness. "Did you see those Shadow Minions?"

"Yeah, but luckily fer us, Matt fought them with that green nightlight of his." Baloo said, sounding relieved to have Kit back in his arms as he hugged Kit to his chest. "I'm glad you're okay, Lil' Britches."

"Now that the boys are back, let's go back inside." Matthew said, carrying Chris into the building and Baloo followed, carrying Kit.

Once inside, Matthew put Chris down, closed the door and locked it, bolted it, placed a wooden beam across and for good measure, pushed a dresser against it..

"What were those things, Matthew?" Rebecca asked tearfully, who was seated behind her desk, hugging Molly, who was also crying.

"What's wrong with Molly?" Kit asked Baloo, looking over at her with concerns.

"Those shadow things grabbed her," Baloo said.

Kit gasped with horror. "WHAT?!"

"We tried to save her, but we all ended up gettin' captured, and then Matt jumped in and saved us all."

"I thought I was going to lose her!" sobbed Rebecca as she held Molly closer to her.

"Yeah, the Shadow Minions would've gotten us too if it weren't for my D-blade." Chris said. "The D-blade is the only thing that works against them. Without a D-blade, you're powerless against them." he explained, mostly for Kit's benefit, who was looking questioningly at him.

"With Chris' Sphere of Protection in place, we won't be seeing anymore of them so long as we remain within the city limits." Matthew said to the room at large. "I wanted to wait til Chris and me were settled in and for Kit to get to know us better before telling you guys anything about our, uh backstory. But with the appearance of the Shadow Minions in this world, we owe you guys an explanation, since you witnessed us fighting them." Matthew walked over to the kitchen area and sat down at the table. "Gather 'round, everyone. I'm about to tell you a tale."

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **I hope everyone is enjoying this, but I haven't gotten any reviews from the last few episode, so I'm not getting any opinions or any comments. Please leave a review, it'll help me out as a writer. I want to know how you guys are enjoying this story.  
**

 **Now, members of the Jungle Aces, I don't know if any of you TaleSpin fans noticed this, but half of the Jungle Aces are unnamed boys, we only know three of them by name; Kit, Ernie and Oscar. The last three, a hippo, a rabbit and a vulture were never named or I never heard anyone refer to them by name. So I decided to name them myself, and I picked Oliver, Toby and Charles. Hope everyone likes the names I picked.**

 **Stay tuned for episode six! And don't worry, I got plenty of plans for episode six.**


	6. Episode Six — Prequel Matthew's Tale

**Disclaimer: I do not own TaleSpin**

 **Author's Note: The events in the start of this episode happened twelve years prior to the start of this story, and there will be some time skips.**

* * *

 **Episode Six**

 **Prequel, Matthew's Tale, Part I**

* * *

Aerial warfare was chaosic and nerve-wrecking, this was _not_ for the faint of heart. Dozens of warplanes flying all through the sky like a swarm of bees, each trying to shoot their enemies out of the air. The air was filled with machine gunfire and flying bullets going from planes to enemy planes.

A younger Matthew Windward was flying a silver P-38 Lightning, performing some barrel rolls and loop-de-loops to evade his enemies and get behind them for a clear shot. Once he was in position, he opened fire on his target, and the enemy plane went down, leaving a trail of smoke behind. Matthew did not pause to watch the plane fall, but quickly switches to the next target and shot that one down, and then another and another, all the while performing amazing maneuvers.

Matthew shot one plane down in a climbing left turn, he shot down another plane that was pursuing one of his wingmen.

 _PING-PING-PING!_ Matthew was under attack! He turned the plane downward into a steep dive. His plan was to dive down and then do a backflip to loop around his attacker to get behind him and attack. But the attacker must have smelled a rat and pulled away in pursuit of another one of Matthew's wingmen.

Matthew let out a deep breath. "Smart pilot, he didn't take the bait." He pulled back on the control yoke. Nothing happened, the plane remained in a steep dive! Matthew tried again, nothing happened, the controls were unresponsive! Matthew had lost all control of his plane!

"Captain Windward! What are you doing?! Pull up, pull up!" cried one of the wingmen over the radio.

Angrily, Matthew grabbed the mic. "Don't worry about me, just get on with the mission! That's an order!" he yelled, he put the mic back in its' place. "The speed of my dive must've caused the plane to experience compressibility…" He muttered to himself, reading the speed and altitude gauges, analyzing the situation within his aircraft. "This speed... it's approaching the speed of sound... a shockwave is developing… the airflow on the wings and critical control surfaces is disrupted... I can no longer pilot this plane!" he was strongly tempted to panic, but he was trained to keep a level head in the crisis. He glanced at the throttle. "Can't cut the throttle, that'd stall the engines and make things worse for me… Wait! If I wait until I get to lower altitude, I just might…"

Having been raised in a family of ace pilots and circus pilots, Matthew was taught from a young age how to analyze his aircraft and figure out a solution to any problems and do it before a crash.

Within fifty feet above the ground, the controls starts to respond and wasting no time, Matthew pulled back on the stick and managed to pull his plane out of the dive. The aircraft leveled out of the dive, the belly of the plane was just twenty feet above the ground. He had managed to pull out of the dive just above a wheat field.

But there was no time for a breath of relief, the sound of gunfire brought Matthew back into the fight. He glanced back and saw an enemy on his tail, shooting at him.

Matthew quickly turned hard, he flat-turned, turned left ninety degree and went into a high-speed stall. The stall allowed the enemy to fly pass him. Now behind the enemy, Matthew opened fire on the enemy and shot him down!

"Phew! That was too close for comfort." Matthew said, wiping his forehead on his sleeve.

He looked up just in time to see one of his best wingmen take out the last enemy planes.

Being the captain of the squadron, Matthew picked up his mic. "Good work, men, that's the last of 'em. Return to base."

"Aye, aye, captain!" echoed his wingmen.

As Matthew turned his plane into the direction of their base, he looked down at the ground and saw their army of tanks advancing more easily towards the enemy line.

"Good luck to you, men," Matthew said, looking down on the tanks below. He saluted them, before speeding off towards the base.

This was Matthew's last battle in the military before he was due to return to civilian life.

At the base, the men were celebrating their victory, having a party while Matthew was in his cabin, packing his bags. Once all of his belongings were packed, he closed the lid of his suitcase. He then sat on his bunk and withdrew a telegram from his pocket and re-read it for the umpteenth time since its' arrival. The beautifully handwritten words from his wife back home is the one thing among his possessions that he held dear. It is what kept him going. It kept him sane, even after so many battles.

* * *

 _My darling Matthew_

 _How how are you? Well, I hope._

 _I'm doing well and everything is alright here at home._

 _I do feel terribly lonely at times without you, even with the company of_

 _your relatives here at their house. I am already counting down the days_

 _for your return, I am so looking forward to that day. But I'm so sorry you_

 _won't be home in time for when the baby comes. But I supposed our baby_

 _would make a nice welcome home present to you. Try not to die and get_

 _home safely. I am praying for your safe return._

 _Lots of love_

— _Patricia_

* * *

Matthew smiled and kissed the telegram before putting it back into his pocket. He picked up his suitcase when General Zaslove walked in, looking unusually grave.

"Windward, I hate to do this just as you're leaving for home, but…" the general withdrew a telegram from his chest pocket and handed it to Matthew.

Judging from the general's expression and tone, Matthew knew this could not be good news. A feeling of dread came over Matthew as he took the telegram from his general.

"I'm sorry," General Zaslove said as Matthew sat down on his bunk to read the telegram. The general excused himself and left the cabin.

* * *

 _Dear, Mr. Windward._

 _I am Doctor Bagheera._  
 _It is with a heavy heart that I must inform you that your wife, Patricia Ann Windward has passed away in childbirth. She gave birth to a pair of very healthy twin boys. She lived just long enough to name them Kit Matthew "Cloudkicker" and Chris James "Skyglider" Windward. Your children has been left to the care of your aunt and uncle. I am sorry for your loss._

— _Dr. Bagheera of Freeport General Hospital._

* * *

The hand holding the telegram was shaking, tears filled Matthew's eyes as he whimpered which turned into a howl of grief and misery. Patricia, the love of his life, was gone!

The men outside the cabin could hear the howls of pain, like a wounded animal. They could also hear the sound of smashing furnitures, and they knew Matthew was breaking everything he could get his hands on. Some of the men made to go into the cabin and to either comfort him or restrain him, but General Zaslove, who stood outside the cabin door with his head bowed in sorrow, shook his head, signaling that men should not go in.

The next day, Matthew boarded a train and set off for home. After an uneventful train ride that lasted for seven hours, When the train pulled into Freeport Station, Matthew got off the train and walked five blocks from the train station to the house of his aunt and uncle.

When he reached their house, he knocked and was greeted by his smiling aunt, who appeared delighted to see him.

"Oh, Matthew! You're home!" she cried in delight.

"'Ello, Aunt Figg." Matthew said in a tone that meant he was not in the mood for all this cheerfulness, his face was downcast, as if he had downpouring rain cloud over his head.

"Ohh," Aunt Figg said, and her face fell. "I supposed you heard about Patricia."

Matthew only responded with a nod, not in the mood to talk either.

"Well do come in." Aunt Figg said, opening the door wider and allowing Matthew in. "Tony! Matthew's here."

Matthew's Uncle Tony came into the hall, carrying the most beautiful baby boy Matthew has ever seen. Matthew's face lit up at the sight of him, and he momentarily forgot his grief.

"Hey, Chris, wanna meet your Daddy? Yeah, this is your Daddy." Uncle Tony cooed to the baby before holding him out to Matthew.

Matthew took Chris into his arms as though he was a priceless treasure. He held his son, gazing in awe at this living miracle! Chris clearly had inherited his mother's fur color as well as her eye color. He was dressed in a French sky blue onesie with a little white airplane patch over his heart

"So, you're Chris… Hi, Chris, I'm your Daddy." Matthew cooed to him, tickling Chris' tiny hand, until Chris, cooing happily, closed his hand around Matthew's finger. "Where's your brother?"

A tensed silence greeted his inquiry, the atmosphere became colder than ice. One could sense the tension and fear in the air. Matthew looked up from the baby at his aunt and uncle, who had both stiffened, looking suddenly tensed.

"Matthew…. how…?" Aunt Figg begun, but Matthew spoke over her.

"Where is Kit?" he asked, not liking the way they were reacting to his question. They seem really very nervous and Aunt Figg seemed shocked that Matthew even knew his name!

"Matthew..." Aunt Figg begun with a pleading look in her eyes that Matthew knew was not good news.

"Where is Chris' crib?" Matthew asked in a low and deadly voice. He had an idea of where this was heading and he did not want Chris to be in the middle of it.

"Up… upstairs, second bedroom." Uncle Tony said nervously.

Without a word, Matthew carried Chris up the stairs into the bedroom, he placed Chris in his crib. He then took a music box, turned it on and placed it next to Chris' pillow, hoping it would distract the baby from the loud commotion he was sure was coming.

Matthew then went back downstairs to find his aunt and uncle surrounded by a handful of cousins. It was clear that they were there to protect Aunt Figg and Uncle Tony from Matthew's wrath.

"Where is my son?" Matthew demanded in a menacing voice, his teeth bared.

"Matthew, how did you know Patricia had twins?" Aunt Figg asked, cowering behind one of her sons. "And how do you know his name?"

"Her doctor sent me a telegram, now do _not_ make me ask again." Matthew said, starting to get very angry. "Where… _IS HE_?!"

"The….the orphanage…." stuttered one of the cousins.

"WHAT?!" roared Matthew furiously, and the whole family squeezed closer together in fright. "What in blue blazes is he doing in the orphanage?! He's not even an orphan!"

"Matthew… we couldn't afford to keep both of them…." Uncle Tony said in a small voice. "We could only afford to take care of one of them."

"THAT'S A LOAD OF HOGWASH, UNCLE TONY!" bellowed Matthew, spits flying from his mouth, and the family all flinched as one. "I know for a fact that my military salary was more than enough to support them both and pay for their care. What happened to the checks I've been sending home?" It was then that Matthew noticed that all the surrounding furnitures, they were different from the ones he remembered. These were brand new. "New furnitures?! YOU THREW AWAY MY SON JUST SO YOU COULD GET NEW FURNITURES?!"

"Well I thought Chris' eyes were prettier, that's why I picked him over the other." Aunt Figg said stupidly, she couldn't help herself, she couldn't function very well under great stress, but she dug herself a deeper grave with this statement.

The whole family groaned as Matthew let out a roar like an angry lion.

"N-n-now wait, Matthew, this isn't as bad as it seems…" one of the cousins said in a pleading voice.

"Okay…" Matthew said, taking a deep calming breath. "Just tell me which orphanage you put Kit in, and I won't smash your faces."

"Uh…" the whole family said as one, looking over at Aunt Figg, making it clear that _SHE_ was the one who took Kit to the orphanage.

"I….I...don't know!" Aunt Figg cried, clearly trying hard to remember. "I just… picked one at random, I can't remember the name or where it is."

Matthew let out roar of fury, causing the whole family to shriek with fear and flinch. He advanced on them, rolling up his sleeves as he went. The look on his face was murderous.

Out on the street outside the house, a dog guy was jogging down the sidewalk when he heard the commotions inside the house he was passing by. He stopped and watched the house for a minute. It seems like there was some sort of riot going on inside, all he could see were the silhouettes of people moving around through the window. One of the silhouettes was very combative, punching and swiping at all the other silhouettes. The silhouettes of furnitures, pots and pans went flying everywhere.

"YOUR OWN GRANDNEPHEW! HOW COULD YOU?!" the dog guy heard someone yelled from within the house, followed by the sound of someone being punched a dozen or so times.

And then… just as sudden as it has started, it all went quiet. The dog guy was very nervous, standing there, waiting to see what would happen next.

Then the front door slowly opened and Matthew stepped out, holding Chris, who was wrapped in a bundle so he couldn't see the devastation Matthew had caused inside the house. Matthew had a bag of baby supplies draped across one shoulder.

Matthew walked down the walkway. When he saw the dog guy, he stopped. He pointed a thumb over his shoulder at the house.

"Call an ambulance or ten. About ten people needs medical attention." Matthew told him. "And tell them that I have disowned them and I'm dropping the name Windward forever." And without another word, Matthew walked on, cuddling the little bundle close to his chest.

The dog guy waited until Matthew had disappeared before going inside. To his relief, he found the whole family alive, battered and bruised, a few missing teeth here and there but alive. But they were clearly in so much pain, that the dog guy ran to the phone and called for an ambulance, just as Matthew had told him.

The next day, Matthew was in his parents' old house, as they had left him the house. But he doesn't like being in the house, because it was a painful reminder that his parents and brother are no longer around, but he needed a place to stay and care for Chris.

Matthew had found some of his old baby toys in the attic and brought them down for Chris to play with. But he had vastly underestimated just how needy a baby can be. Every time he picked up the phone to call the police to report a missing child or to call various orphanages to try and locate Kit, Chris would cry, demanding Matthew's attention, and his needs rangs from wanting to be fed, to wanting to be played with, right up to wanting a diaper change. And it did not help that Chris kept waking him up at such ungodly hours in the night.

A week later, Matthew looked terrible, his face was haggard from lack of sleep and his eyes always seems to be very heavy, he was pretty close to crashing and everytime his head touch the pillow, Chris' cries would call him back and he'd have to get up and tend to him.

And caring for Chris did nothing to help with his quest to find Kit, he'd call an orphanage and be in the middle of inquiring the location of Kit, and Chris' crires would call him away from the phone, requiring Matthew's attention.

Matthew finally got Chris to take his nap, and he was strongly tempted to take a nap with him, but he had to return to his efforts to find Kit. He sat down at his desk and picked up the phone and called various orphanages, but none of the ones he called had ever heard of Kit. In the middle of talking to the last orphanage in the area, he fell upon his desk and fell asleep, the receiver falling from his hand. He was so tired that he just simply crashed.

— **Four Years Later—**

When Chris was four-year-old and was much less needy, Matthew had gotten hold of a wreckage of a Conwing L-sixteen from a junkyard and was in the process of restoring it. To him, taking a wreckage of a plane and restoring it to working conditions was a lot cheaper than buying a plane, new or used, as whenever someone throws something away, the next person to take the discarded item instantly becomes the new owner of that item, which is how Matthew was able to get a wreckage of a plane for free. But it still costed him quite a bit to fix it up.

He allowed Chris to assist him in restoring the plane by handing him his tools whenever he asked for them, as Chris always wanted to help his Daddy.

"Whatcha doing, Daddy?" Chris asked him, wearing a white t-shirt and blue overalls with some toy tools in the pockets. Across the chest of the overalls were the words "Daddy's Little Helper."

"I'm fixing this plane so that it will fly again." Matthew said, who was wearing a gray jumpsuit and was working under the hood of the right nacelle. "Could ya hand me the wrench?"

Chris crawled over to the toolbox, took out the correct tool and handed it to Matthew. "Here you go, Daddy."

Chris had learned a lot from his Dad, since Matthew was always talking to him and is always teaching him things. As a result, Chris already knew the names of all the tools.

"Thank you, Chris." Matthew said, accepting the wrench with a proud smile and continued working on the plane.

"Will this plane help find my brother?" Chris asked with curiosity.

"I hope so, it would help us go to places where he might be." Matthew answered honestly.

"What happened to Kit?" Chris asked and Matthew told him the truth, that he was sent away by unnamed relatives."Why? That's so mean!" Chris cried in childish indignation.

"They were greedy, that's all there was to it." Matthew said with an annoyed expression,.

"Well I hope this plane will help us find him."

"Me too, Chris."

Between trying to find Kit via phone calls and restoring a wrecked Conwing L-sixteen, Matthew still had to tend to Chris, making sure he was fed at the right times and taking every opportunity to teach Chris various little lessons. He found that it helps Chris' vocabulary develop better by talking to him as a person instead of as a toddler, so he quit using baby words with him once Chris started talking, when Chris was approaching his second birthday.

By the time Matthew was finished with the plane six months later, the plane was not only restored, but also looked brand new, as if it was fresh out of the factory. Taking the lessons he learned from his battles in the war, he strengthened the flaps on the wings, tails and the control surfaces so that the plane would be much less likely to suffer from compressibility during a dive.

The plane was then painted and decorated by Matthew. It was now a nice fire-engine red plane with yellow thunderbolts painted on the sides.

"Wow, what a great plane!" Chris said in awe, looking up at the plane while sitting on Matthew's right shoulder. "A Conwing L-sixteen, right?" he said as he was holding a book that listed all the different aircrafts at the time open in one hand, the other hand was around Matthew's neck as a means to maintain his balance on his Dad's shoulder.

"That's right, Chris! You've been studying that book, haven't you?" Matthew said, sounding proud of him. "But I fixed this Conwing to be better, stronger and faster than any other Conwings. I call her...the _McQueen_."

"Can she fly?" Chris asked.

"Yep! Wanna take her out for a test flight?"

"YEAH!"

"Okay," Matthew chuckled. "Let's go."

Matthew walked into the cargo area from the loading bay door, closed it behind him and then walked into the cockpit, where he set Chris down in the co-pilot seat and buckled him up.

Matthew sat down in his seat and was about to start the engines when he froze. An emotion overtook him and he let out a happy sob.

"What's the matter, Daddy?" Chris asked, looking up at his Dad with concern.

Matthew turned a watery smile to Chris. "This is….your first flight."

"Well….yeah, but that's no reason to cry, Daddy."

"This is a happy kind of cry, son." Matthew told him, wiping away his tears on his sleeve. "Now, ready for takeoff?"

"YEAH!"

"Alright then, hold on to your hat." Matthew said, starting the engines.

"Silly Daddy, I don't wear hats." Chris giggled.

"It's just an expression, son." Matthew told him, flipping a few switches but putting his hand on the throttle. "Ahh, listen to that, Chris, you know what that is?"

"The _McQueen's_ engines?"

"Yep, it's the sound of two very healthy engines." Matthew said. "Now, let's go!" And he pushed the throttle forward, taking off into the air with both he and Chris letting out cries of delight, Chris was absolutely enjoying his first ever takeoff and fight.

"WOW! This is so cool!" Chris cried, gazing out of his window. "I can see our… what's it called? The house that the _McQueen_ lives in?"

"A hangar, Chris." Matthew said with a smile.

"I can see our hangar from here!" Chris exclaimed happily as a new word was added to his vocabulary.

The father and son duo laughed as they flew towards the horizon.

— **Three Years Later—**

When Chris was seven years old, Matthew was in the employ of Scrooge McDuck, serving as his pilot since Launchpad got himself fired for crashing way too many times, costing Scrooge a lot of money. Matthew has been running low on money and decided he needed a job in order to keep on flying and continue to care for Chris. Before now, they have been living off of a combination of Matthew's inheritance money and the money Matthew had put aside from his military salary during the war.

Chris loved it when his Dad was working for Scrooge because he got to play and interact with other kids his age for once. He played with Scrooge's grandnephews, Huey, Dewey and Louie, as well as the housekeeper's granddaughter, Webby. The triplets were the same age as Chris, while Webby was a year younger.

Then one day, Scrooge's treasure-hunting adventures led them all into trouble...

Scrooge had gotten wind of the existence of the Philosopher's Stone, a stone that can turn any metal into pure gold. It also produces the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal. Filled with greed and excited for a new adventure, Scrooge hired Matthew as his pilot and invited all the kids to come along, including Chris.

So Matthew flew them in Scrooge's private plane, Scrooge and Donald Duck were with him, along with the Duck triplets and Chris.

The boys and Chris were wrestling playfully on the floor, laughing and yelling.

"Boys!" Donald snapped and they all froze in mid-wrestling. "Get back in your seats and buckle up!"

"Yes, Unca Donald…" the four boys said in unison, that included Chris, who for some reason had taken to calling Donald "Unca Donald" as well.

They got into their seats and buckled up, but were soon complaining that they were bored.

Feeling bad for the boys, Matthew thought of a way to ease their boresome.

"Hey, I know. Let's play a game." he said, sounding like a big buddy to the kids.

"Absolutely not!" Scrooge said firmly, he pointed his cane at Matthew. "I'm a-payin' ya to fly the plane, not to play games."

"Lighten up, Mr. McDuck," Matthew said, sounding relaxed. "We won't be there for another two hours. What's the harm in playing a game to pass the time?"

"Well… I… Oh, alright, fine! Play your blasted game." Scrooge said grumpily.

The boys all cheered with delight at being allowed to play a game.

"Aw, look how happy you made them." Matthew said, smiling.

"Bah! Humbug." Scrooge said, pouting in his seat.

"Okay boys, we're going to play an airplane trivia game, where I ask a question and the person who answers correctly gets to fly the plane for ten minutes. How does that sound?"

The boys cheered with enthusiasm at the idea.

"Are you mad?" cried Scrooge in outrage. "You're gonna let the _boys_ do your job?"

"Hey, gotta give 'em some kind of prize for answering a question correctly, unless you'd like to give them ten dollars each for answering my questions correctly..."

Scrooge looked horrified at the idea of giving them easy money. "Alright, fine! Let 'em fly the plane. But if they crash and we survive, I'm docking your pay to nothing!"

Matthew looked untroubled by Scrooge's threat and begin the game.

"Okay, what do I use to adjust the airspeed of the plane?"

"OOH-OOH-OOH! I know, I know!" all four of the boys cried together, waving their hands.

"Louie," Matthew called.

"The throttle!" Louie shouted happily.

"Correct, come on down to the cockpit."

"WOO-HOO! See ya later, suckers!" Louie gloated to the other boys as he quickly unbuckled his seat belt and ran to the cockpit.

Donald, who was sitting in the seat behind the co-pilot seat where Scrooge sat, looked nervous. "Um, I'm not so sure this is a good idea..." he said in a worried voice.

"Ah, it'll be fine," Matthew assures him.

Once Louie was inside the cockpit, Matthew picked Louie up and set him on his lap.

"Okay, now take the stick and hold her steady." Matthew said. "Don't try anything fancy, because if you do, you will _not_ get another turn."

Unfortunately for Louie, he was too excited to listen, and yanked back hard on the stick, sending the plane into steep climb and then into a steep dive and did a few barrel rolls before Matthew took back the controls and tossed Louie out of the cockpit.

"Louie is out of the game, return to your seat, Louie." Matthew ordered, sounding annoyed.

Scrooge groaned, looking sick, his face was pale green.

"Are you alright, Mr. McDuck?" Matthew asked, looking at the old duck with concern.

"Aye, I'll be fine…" Scrooge groaned, before he ducked his head out of sight and vomited into a paper bag.

"Okay, next question." Matthew said, as Donald stood up behind Scrooge and patted his uncle on the back. "How do I go up?"

"OOH-OOH-OOH! I know, I know!" three of the boys cried together, waving their hands, while Louie sat, sulking in his seat.

"Dewey?" Matthew called.

"You pull back on the stick?" Dewey said, like he was just guessing based on what he'd seen.

"Correct, come on down!"

"YA-HOO! And I won't lose my turn like a certain _someone_ did." he said, clearly gloating to Louie as payback for the gloating he did earlier. Louie scowled as Dewey marched happily towards the cockpit.

"You better learn to sleep with one eye open…." Louie muttered under his breath.

Dewey entered the cockpit and jumped right up into Matthew's lap and took the stick. For six minutes, Dewey held the stick and then, unable to help himself, he pulled the plane onto a roller coaster loop before he too lost his turn and was tossed out of the cockpit.

"Dewey, for that reckless stunt, you're not getting another turn either." Matthew said, sounding annoyed.

"Ha, ha…." Louie gloated, grinning at Dewey, and Dewey punched him on the arm as he passed him on the way to his seat. "OW! Unca Donald! Dewey hit me!"

"Dewey, say you're sorry." Donald said half-heartedly, as he was busy tending to Scrooge, who was still looking green.

"Sorry, Louie…" Dewey said without meaning it, sitting in his seat with his arms crossed.

"Okay, now next question—"

"Oh please stop! Are you trying to kill me, lad?" Scrooge groaned, sounding weak and feeble.

Matthew ignored him, he was sure the next winner will fly right. "What makes the plane go up and down?"

Huey and Chris both raised their hand, saying: "Ooh-ooh! I know! I know!"

"Huey," Matthew called and Chris put his hand down, looking disappointed.

"The flaps on the tail section," Huey said.

"Correct, and that was a trick question, too!"

"Whoo-hoo!" Huey cried, dashing into the cockpit. He climbed up into Matthew's lap and got to fly his full ten minutes, the first and only triplet to do so.

"Good job, Huey," Matthew praised him. "You did a great job, and you didn't make your poor ol' uncle sick."

Scrooge said nothing, he was snoring with his head back in his seat, trying to sleep off his roller coaster sickness.

Huey hopped down from Matthew's lap and walked back into his seat.

"Okay, next question." Matthew said. "How do airplanes stay up?"

For the first time, all three of the triplets looked stumped, while Chris was the only one who raised his hand.

"Ooh! Daddy, I know!" he cried happily.

"Okay, Chris, go ahead." Matthew said encouragingly.

"There are four forces that keeps an airplane up. They are lift, weight, thrust and drag."

Donald looked shocked and impressed at Chris' answer and Matthew smiled proudly at him.

"Wow… that's one smart kid you got there, Matthew." Donald said as Chris, knowing he was right, came into the cockpit and sat in his Dad's lap,

Matthew chuckled. "What do you expect? He's my boy, after all." he said, fondly ruffling Chris' hair. Chris giggled and then took the stick and piloted the plane for the next ten minutes, doing just as well as Huey had done.

The rest of the flight continues with Huey and Chris taking turns flying the plane, each of their turns lasted ten minutes and Matthew dropped the quiz game and let them take turns without them having to answer a question, all the while Dewey and Louie were getting increasingly more jealous of Huey and Chris.

An hour later, Scrooge awoke from his nap and glanced out of his window, and what he saw excited him.

"Matthew, quick! Land the plane!" he said, waving a hand at him. "We're here!"

The kids all looked out of the window and saw an old castle below.

"Wow, that castle is huuuuge!" exclaimed Huey.

"Yeah, reckon it has hidden treasure?" asked Louie.

"I bet it's filled with awesome death traps!" said Dewey excitedly.

"Dewey… you're weird…" Chris said, looking concerned for Dewey's sanity.

"Who isn't weird, Chris?" Dewey said, putting an arm around Chris' shoulder. "We're all weird sometimes."

"Yeah, but there is such a thing as unhealthy weird..." Chris pointed out.

"You try having two brothers and see if you can keep _your_ sanity intact." Dewey said. "You try being the middle child." he added, making Chris wish he hadn't spoken.

"Get in your seats, boys and buckle up." Matthew said over his shoulder. "We're about to land."

The boys all obediently sat in their seats and buckled up. Matthew set the plane down for a smooth landing.

When the plane was safely on the ground and the engines were turned off, Matthew looked over at Scrooge, who had folded himself in a tight ball, trembling. He seems to be bracing himself for the impact of a crash.

"Mr. McDuck… Mr. McDuck!" Matthew said, placing a hand on the old duck's shoulder and shaking him.

Scrooge opened one of his eyes and stopped trembling. "Have we crashed yet?"

"No," Matthew said, looking insulted. "We've made a smooth landing, we're a few yards away from the castle courtyard."

"Ah, yes... my apologies, lad." Scrooge said, unfolding himself. "My old pilot always crash-landed, and old habits die hard."

"Ah, that's understandable," Matthew said, looking a little happier.

The kids has all ran ahead, but remained in sight of the adults. They stopped in front of the courtyard. They were all gazing in awe of this vast castle with many turrets and towers.

"Unca Scrooge, what is this place?" Huey asked.

"Ah… That, my boy, is the castle of Pigwarts." Scrooge replied.

"Pigwarts? That's a funny name." Chris said, giggling.

"Aye, but it isn't the funny name that's the attraction, it's what's _inside_ we're after." Scrooge said, waving his cane at the castle.

"What is it that we're after, Unca Scrooge?" Louie asked, looking greedy. "Gold? A magic lamp? Ooh, can I have one of the three wishes? Jewels? Diamonds? Or maybe some rubies!"

"Now I know who _you_ takes after…." Donald muttered, having heard Louie's questions from just behind him.

Scrooge laughed gleefully. "We're after something far more valuable than any of those mundane things."

"Wow, I never thought I'd hear you call money mundane…." Donald commented, looking surprised at his uncle.

"Indeed..." Scrooge said, looking a little surprised himself. "Well, what we're after is the Philosopher's Stone!"

"The Philosopher's Stone… What's that, Unca Scrooge?" Huey asked interestedly.

"Well, legends says it's a stone that can turn any metal into pure gold." Scrooge said, looking excited as well as greedy. "It also produces the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal."

"So, it's a stone that can create as much money and life as you could ever want." Matthew summarized, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Sounds like too much of a good thing to me."

"Well we've come too far to turn back now." Scrooge said, leading the way to the large oak doors. He tried to push the door open, but it would not budge. In the end, it took all of them to push it open.

The door finally opened up on the very large entrance hall, the entrance hall was so big that the whole of McDuck's Manor would fit inside it.

"Alright, before we go any further in, we need to set up the buddy system." Matthew said, taking charge. "Chris and Huey to me. Dewey, you're with your Uncle Scrooge. Louie, you're with your Uncle Donald. Everyone stay with your buddy."

As he gave the orders, all four of the kids obeyed. Chris and Huey came over and stood on either side of Matthew, while Dewey and Louie went and stood next to their respective buddies.

Even though the buddy system was established, they still stayed together with each kid sticking close to his assigned buddy, all except Dewey. Dewey kept trying to wander off on his own, and drift away from Scrooge in search of booty traps, but Scrooge would hooked him with his cane and pull him back to his side.

"Dewey, I'm a-not gonna tell you again," Scrooge said sternly the third time this happened. "You stick close to me, or you get back on the plane and wait for us there!"

"But I wanna see some really cool traps!" Dewey said sulkingly

Scrooge sighed, placing a palm to his face. "Oy…We shoulda left you at home… Look, lad, this castle is vast! Look at this entrance hall! Why, it's big enough to hold me manson! There's no telling how big the rest of the castle is. You could very easily get lost in here."

"Don't worry, Mr. McDuck, I got a plan that will ensure we can find our way back to the entrance hall." Matthew said. "Chris, do you have your sheets of stickers?"

"Yes, Daddy," Chris said as he put his hand in his overall pocket and withdrew a dozen sheets of yellow smiley face stickers.

"Okay, Chris, now you've got an important job," Matthew said, bending down to Chris' level with his hands on Chris' shoulders, looking him dead seriously in the eyes. "It will be your job to place a sticker on the walls, doorposts, anything you can find. Within every twenty steps, you place a sticker on the nearest thing. Think you can do it?"

Looking proud that his Dad was tasking him with such a big and important job, Chris nodded and said: "Yes! You can count on me, Daddy!"

"Alright, let's go." Matthew said, and the set off to explore the castle, with Chris counting his every steps and placing leaving a sticker whenever he counted his steps up to twenty.

"...seventeen... eighteen... nineteen,,,,twenty!" Chris said, placing a sticker on a suit of armor.

"Tell me, Matthew, have you been a boy scout in your youth?" asked Scrooge, impressed with the way Matthew had came prepared. "Is that where you learned to leave trail markers?"

"Yeah, I was a boy scout when I was a kid, and I learned some more survival tricks in the military." Matthew said, keeping an eye on where they were going.

"Ah, a veteran, what did you do in the military?" Donald asked excitedly. "Were you a sailor? A pilot on an aircraft carrier?"

"No, I ranked my way up to captain of a squadron, and I've never took off or landed on an aircraft carrier." Matthew said as they reached the third floor corridor. At the end of the corridor was a door that looks forbidden.

They all had a feeling that they should stay away from this door, except for Dewey and Scrooge, who marched ahead and then struggled to get the door open.

"C'mon! Help us get this blasted door open!" Scrooge commanded over his shoulder at the group standing way back.

"Uh, Uncle Scrooge?" Donald said nervously. "I don't think we should go in there…"

"Why not?" demanded Scrooge.

"Don't you sense the foreboding atmosphere around that door?" Matthew asked, holding Chris and Huey in his arms and standing way back.

"Of course I do!" Scrooge said impatiently. "The more foreboding, the more valuable the treasure is! Now help me open this thing!"

Donald and Matthew looked at each other.

"Well, that sort of does make sense…" Matthew said grudgingly.

"I just hope we don't regret this..." Donald said, looking reluctant to help open the door.

Against their better judgement, Donald and Matthew moved forward and helped Scrooge push the door open, with the kids helping.

The door suddenly flew open, causing the three adults and four kids who had been pushing on it, to fall forward into the room. Once they were all inside, the door slammed shut behind them and the torches all lit up to light up the room. And they found themselves facing a dragon.

They stared in fear at its' feet and then slowly look up at its' head. There was more than one! It was a three-headed dragon!

The huge dragon filled the space between ceiling and floor, and it was looking down at them with a puzzled look, as if it was thinking 'Why did they come in here?' And then the dragon bared its' three months' worth of razor sharp teeth and breathed fire at them!

They all jumped out of the way and took refuge behind broken pieces of stone. All except Scrooge, who was batting away the balls of flame with his cane.

"No dragon is gonna stand between Scrooge McDuck and his treasure!" Scrooge declared as he batted away another ball of flames, deflecting them all.

"Is he _INSANE_?!" Matthew cried to Donald, laying over Chris and Huey behind a broken piece of stone pillar, shielding them with his body.

"Yeah, but what else is new?" Donald said, shrugging. "He's even worse with gold fever."

"Why is there a trapdoor between the dragon's feet?" Dewey asked.

"Huh?" Donald looked and saw it. "Could it be the next room where the treasure is?"

"Only one way to find out!" Dewey said, jumping out of his hiding place and ran towards the trapdoor.

"Dewey! NO!" Donald grabbed a shield that has been laying on the floor and ran after Dewey.

The dragon had blasted some fireballs in Dewey's direction, but Donald jumped in front of Dewey and shielded them both with his shield. "Remind me to ground you for life when we get home…" he said, annoyed while Dewey just grin sheepishly.

Once the attack was over, Donald grabbed Dewey's wrist and pulled him back to the others, holding his shield up high as he went.

"AAHH!" screamed Scrooge as he went flying through the air, having whipped by the dragon's tail, he hit the wall and then fell to the floor, where he lay motionless.

"UNCLE SCROOGE!" cried Donald, running over to his uncle but was stopped as the dragon's tail slammed down in front of him. "HEY! Get outta my way, ya big palooka!" he yelled, kicking the dragon's tail.

The dragon was shocked at this reaction, it had expected fear, not defiance. It glared down at Donald with a more menacing look, slamming its' tail down again. This only enraged Donald into his berserk state where he screamed out of a series of angry quacks and started beating up on the dragon's tail in a fit of uncontrollable rage.

The dragon yanked its' away from Donald and stared down at him in shock while the little mad duck continues to hop up and down in rage, waving his fists. That had hurt!

"I… I don't believe it…." Matthew said in shock.. "Your Uncle Donald is taking on a _DRAGON_!"

"Yeah! Our uncle's the best! GO UNCA DONALD!" cried the triplets together.

Donald then jumped onto the tail and ran up its' back to its' heads and started pounding away on the heads. He even tied their three long necks into a prizel!

"There! That oughta teach ya!" Donald as he jumped down from the dragon, brushing off his hands as he walked away from it.

The triplets all cheered at Donald's apparent victory and Donald walked proudly towards them, holding himself up high like a hero **.** But Matthew felt uneasy as he watched the dragon. It moved! Before Matthew could cry out a warning to Donald, it had shot a jet of flame that set Donald's tail feathers ablaze!

"AAAHHH-AAAHHH-AAAAHHH!" Donald screamed as he shot up into the air, leaving a trail of smoke behind and when he came back down to the ground, he slapped his own behind frantically and then setting his behind on the ground and dragging it across the ground, trying desperately to put the fire out.

The dragon pulled its' three heads apart and then closed in on them.

The triplets were all screaming, Chris was whimpering into Matthew's chest as Matthew held him protectively.

"We're all gonna die!" screamed Louie hysterically, then he grabbed Dewey and shook him. "I'M TOO YOUNG TO DIE!"

Dewey, annoyed, slapped Louie across the face and then held him as they hugged each other in fear.

"Hey, what's this?" Huey said, spotting a flute on the floor. "A flute?" he said as he picked it up. "What's this doing here?" He blew the dust off of it before starting to play it.

The moment Huey started playing, the dragon stiffened and its' eyes begin to droop.

Matthew, realizing what was happening, urged Huey to keep playing while they checked on Scrooge.

Matthew and the boys ran over to Scrooge and sat him upright.

Scrooge let out a pained groan before looking around. "What… what happened? Where is that overgrown lizard?"

"It's over there," Matthew said, jerking a thumb over of his shoulder at the dragon. Scrooge looked just in time to see it fall face-down with an earth-shaking crash.

Triumphant, Scrooge jumped to his feet. "That'll teach you to mess with Scrooge McDuck!"

"...and his second wing is here…" Matthew said in dismay, he was hoping this dragon would discourage Scrooge from pursuing the Philosopher's Stone, but no, he was determined as ever.

Scrooge ran to the sleeping dragon.

"And his gold fever is back too…" Donald said, his tail feather still smoking.

With his cane, Scrooge hooked the ring on the trap door, pulled it open, and then looked down.

"What do you see, Unca Scrooge?" Louie asked excitedly. "Mountains of gold? A pile of rubies? Huge diamonds?"

"Nay, lad, all I see is pitch black." Scrooge said. "And there's no way of climbing down, we'll have to jump."

"ME FIRST!" Louie cried eagerly, running to the trapdoor, preparing to dive right in. But Scrooge stopped him with the hook of his cane.

"Are you daft, boy? You're gonna crack your skull open." Scrooge said sternly as he threw Louie back, "Leave this to the professionals, boys, like your Uncle Donald." he added slyly.

"Yeah!" Donald said in agreement, and then he realized that he had just been played. "Wait, _WHAT?!_ Why me?!"

"Because you're the bravest duck in the world and because I'm telling you to, now get in the hole!" Scrooge ordered.

"Crazy old loony…" Donald muttered under his breath as he approached the hole. Unfortunately for Donald, Scrooge heard him and when Donald was standing over the hole, looking down on the dark abyss, Scrooge kicked him right in!

The volume of Donald's screams got lower and lower, the further down he went until they heard soft _flump_! As Donald hit the bottom.

"UNCA SCROOGE!" cried the triplets in outrage.

"Whoops, me old foot slipped. It's not what it used to be, ya know." Scrooge said slyly, giving his foot a small shake.. "Ah well, it's better now." he leaned over the hole and called: "Donald! Donald, are you alright, m'boy?"

"Yeah, and when I get outta here, I'm gonna strangle you…" Donald's voice sounded out of the darkness.

"Eh, he's fine." Scrooge said in a satisfied voice. "Alright, lads, jump in."

"YAY!" and one by one, the triplets jumped in after their Uncle Donald.

"Chris, you next." Scrooge said encouragingly

But Chris seems too scared to jump, it was too dark down there for his liking! He backed away until his back bumped into Matthew's legs, He then turned around and hugged his father's legs for comfort, hiding his face in them.

"Chris and I will go together," Matthew said, picking Chris up and holding him in his arms as he jumped in.

"Here we go, Scroogie ol' boy." Scrooge said to himself as he jumped in after them…

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

What awaits our daring adventurers below the trapdoor? What challenges will they face next? Stay tuned to find out in part two of Prequel, Matthew's Tale!

 **Everything in these prequel episodes are flashback episodes as Matthew tells the story of his and Chris' past to Baloo, Rebecca, Kit, Molly and Wildcat.**

Hope you all are enjoying this story so far.

 **Special thanks to my beta reader, Cyclone Blaze, for his feedbacks and encouragements during the writing of this episode.**


	7. Episode Seven — Matthew's Tale, Part II

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

* * *

 **Episode Seven**

 **Prequel, Matthew's Tale, Part II**

* * *

Scrooge fell through darkness, cold damp air rushed past him as he fell down, down, down and—FLUMP! With a funny, muffled sort of thump, he landed on something soft.

Now they were all down in the chamber below the trapdoor, but it was so dark it was pitch black, none of them could see a thing; not even their own hand in front of their face.

Suddenly Donald let out a squawking yell and it sounded like he was struggling, fighting against something.

"Donald! What is it, m'boy?!" Scrooge yelled, suddenly concerned for his nephew.

"SOMETHING'S GOT ME!" Donald squawked loudly, "it's wrapping me up, I can't… get it off!"

"AHH!" cried Louie. "It got me too! Save me, Unca Scrooge!"

"Now, hold on," Scrooge said nervously. "Uncle Scrooge will save ya. Now where did I put that blasted thing?" he muttered, patting his pockets, looking for something.

"IT GOT ME! HELP ME, DADDY!" Chris cried, as whatever it was, got him too.

"Chris! Just keep yelling, son! I'll follow the sound of your voice." Matthew said, feeling blindly around in the dark for his precious son.

"DADDY, I'M SCARED! IT'S ALL DARK AND SOMETHING'S GOT ME!" Chris yelled in total fear. "It feels like a snake is wrapping around me!"

"Hold on, Chris, I'm coming." Matthew said, feeling his way through the dark. It did not help that the Duck trio were also screaming. And then he tripped over what felt like a giant root and the moment he hit the ground, he felt himself being wrapped up in these tentacle-like vines. "No… NO! It got me!"

"Ah-ha!" Scrooge exclaimed, it seems he had found what he was looking for. Then he felt something grab his ankle, if felt like some kind of tentacle, it was wrapping itself around his ankle. "Let go of me!" Scrooge yelled as he whacked the thing that had grabbed hold of him with his cane. Whatever it was, it released him.

Suddenly there was a small flicker of light as Scrooge lit a match and looked around. He saw that what had hold of the others was a giant monstrous plant with many tentacle-like vines.

"Let go of my family, ya overgrown weed!" Scrooge yelled, whacking at the plant's tentacles some more, all the while, trying to keep his match from going out. It was then that he noticed that vines were retreating from him. He moved forward, and with every steps, the vines retreated further and further back. "I got it!" Scrooge laughed in triumph. "It hates light and warmth—YOW!" The tiny flame had burned down the matchstick and burnt Scrooge's fingers, and then it went out.

"QUICK! LIGHT ANOTHER MATCH, UNCA SCROOGE!" cried Dewey, his voice straining as he struggled against his bonds..

"I know, lad! I'm on it!" Scrooge said as he got out another match and lit it. He looked all around. "There has to be a torch around here somewhere, I can't-a keep lighting matches forever… Ah-ha!" He has spotted a cauldron filled with woods and ashes. He ran to it and, like an Olympus torch runner, he dropped the match into the cauldron. Flames burst into life in the cauldron, lighting up the whole chamber! The monstrous planet let out a high-pitch squeal and retreated, releasing everyone in the process.

Everyone took a moment to catch their breath, and another moment to get to their feet.

"That… Was... AWESOME!" Dewey exclaimed and everyone gave him a weird look. "...you know, for a death trap…"

"C'mon, lads, let's keep going." Scrooge said, beckoning them towards him and leading the way into next chamber.

"First a three-headed dragon, then a monster plant that tried to strangle us, what's next?" Donald grumbled as they followed Scrooge into the next chamber.

"Shh!" hissed Matthew. "Don't jinx it!"

"Huh? Oh, right…" Donald said and he said no more.

At the entrance to the next chamber, Scrooge suddenly swung out an arm to signal to the group that they should stop. Silently, he gestured up with his cane.

There were over a hundred birds flying around in the chamber, fluttering around the chamber continuously.

"Birds?" Dewey said. "What's so scary about birds? Aw, c'mon! The monster plant thing was better than this! THIS IS THE LAMEST DEATH TRAP EVER!""

"What is it with you and your death traps?" Scrooge demanded of Dewey, giving him a half-worried half-stern look. "Anyway, what's scary is their number, they outnumber us. They could be trained to attack the person who runs across this chamber to the next door. With that many claws and beaks, they could tear us to pieces with their sheer number!"

"There's only one way to find out!" Dewey cried happily, and he dashed forward before anybody could stop him!

"DEWEY! STOP! GET BACK HERE, LAD!" Scrooge yelled angrily.

"I'm running through the death trap! Come and get me, birds! I… huh...?" Dewey was half way through the chamber when he slowed to a stop, looking up at the birds as they continues to flutter around the chamber. "C'mon, you stupid birds! Attack me!" Nothing happened. He turned around and called back to the group, "Unca Scrooge, they're not attacking me!"

"I can see that, lad! And be grateful for that, ya little daredevil!" Scrooge said angrily, marching across the chamber, right up to Dewey and then he bonked Dewey over the head with his cane.

"OW! Unca Scrooge, that hurts!" Dewey whined, clutching his head.

"Good! Somebody had ta knock some senses into ya! Ya coulda been bird feed!" Scrooge said with a glare that made Dewey feel incredibly small. "What have I always say? Ya gotta work smarter, not harder."

"I'm sorry, Unca Scrooge," Dewey said, sounding close to tears.

Scrooge's expression softened. "Oh… the important thing is that you're okay, lad. Just be smarter next time." He turned to the others, who had still not moved into the chamber. "C'mon, it's safe, for once. Let's keep going!"

Seeing that Dewey and Scrooge made it through without a scratch on them, the others felt more encouraged to move forward into the chamber. They walked safely through the chamber and reached the other side, where there was a door. Scrooge tried to push it open, but it was locked.

"What the—?" Scrooge pushed harder and then he slammed his shoulder into it. But it would not budge, not even when they all combined their effort into it.

"Well, this is it," Donald said in a defeated voice, giving up. "We've hit a dead end."

"This can't be a dead end," Scrooge said, frowning. "This must be a riddle that we need to solve. But what I can't figure out is why there are so many birds in this—" Scrooge suddenly stopped speaking as a sudden realization hit him. "Wait a minute…." He turned and looked up at all the birds, squinching at them. And then he let out a gleeful laugh and danced around. He stopped and pointed up at the birds. "These aren't birds…they're _KEYS_! Winged keys!" he said, laughing.

"What?!" cried Matthew and Donald together and then they looked up at the birds and saw that they were indeed winged keys.

"But how is that possible?" Matthew said, rubbing his disbelieving eyes.

"Magic," Donald said simply.

Matthew frowned but said nothing. He did not believe in magic, but he knew that now was not the time to express his disbelief, not after the three-headed dragon, the monster plant that tried to strangle them and the chamber full of winged keys. Yeah, denying the existence of magic in the face of the overwhelming evidence would probably not be a smart move.

"But…" Chris said, looking up at the flock of keys. "There are hundreds of them! How do we know which ones to grab, Unca Scrooge?" Just as with Donald, Chris had taken to calling Scrooge "Unca Scrooge" along with the triplets.

"That's easy, m'boy." Scrooge said, strolling back over to the door. "Now pay attention, you lot," he said, speaking to Chris and the triplets now. "Careful observations and cool deductions are essential to every adventurers and explorers. Be aware of your surroundings, take in as much details as you can. Now look," he said, gesturing upwards with his cane. "There are hundreds of keys up there and it's possible that only one key would open the door into the next chamber."

"Aw c'mon, you're makin' us think?! That just makes this so much harder!" complained Louie.

"Okay, lads, I'll give ya a hint," Scrooge said. "Pay attention to the door, notice anything special about it?"

The triplets studied the door, frowning as they tried to figure out what was so special about it.

"Not really…" Huey said finally, but Chris suddenly gasped in realization.

"What?" Dewey urged him. "What is it, Chris?"

"The door handle…" Chris said, reaching out and touching the door handle.

"What about it?" Louie said, taking a closer look at the door handle.

"It's…. a really old fashion one and it's silver." Chris explained.

"So?" said Louie.

"SO… we're looking for a key that's just like it!" Chris said. "I mean, look at 'em!" he said, gesturing up at the winged keys. "Most of them are gold! So, if we can find the silver key…"

"…We can unlock this door!" Huey finished for him. "Chris, you're a genius!"

"Oh, well, I dunno about that…" Chris said modestly.

"Don't sell yourself short, lad." Scrooge said, patting Chris on the head. "That was some smart thinkin'!"

"Aw thanks, Unca Scrooge." Chris said, blushing a little at the praises he was receiving.

Matthew beamed at Chris, swelling with pride inside for his son.

"I see it! Look, there it is!" cried Dewey, who was scanning the keys, trying spot the right one. He pointed up to it.

"But how to we get the silver key?" Chris asked, "The silver key is one in hundreds of keys! How are we s'posed to catch it?"

Scrooge took one look up at the silver key that Dewey pointed out and chuckled.

"Do not fret, m'boy, I've got it all figured out." Scrooge said with a sly grin. He walked over to Matthew and handed him his cane. "Here, take this," he said, and Matthew took it. "Now when I say 'go', you thrust that cane straight up in the air, as high as you can! Got it?"

"Ye-yeah, I got it…" Matthew said, bemused.

"Okay," Scrooge said and then he paused, watching the keys, waiting for the right moment, before yelling out "GO!"

Matthew thrusted the cane up as instructed, and to his amazement, he caught the silver key in the hook of Scrooge's cane!

Chris, Donald and the triplets all cheered and applauded him.

"Good going, lad!" said Scrooge as he took the key and his cane back and then strolled over to the door, thrusted the key into the keyhole and turned. It worked; the door creaks slowly open. And then the key pulled itself out of the keyhole and took flight to rejoin its' flock, with one wing all crumpled.

The next chamber was just as dark as the first chamber with the murderous plant that tried to strangle them. Chris whimpered as he pressed himself against Matthew's leg. And Matthew, knowing that his son was frightened of the dark due to the previous experience with the killer plant, picked him up and held him in his arm. Huey and Louie hid shakily behind their Uncle Donald, who didn't look so brave himself. He gulped as he followed his Uncle Scrooge and Dewey into the next chamber.

As they walked into the chamber, all the torches all along the walls suddenly burst into life, lighting up the entire chamber. Everyone had to shield their eyes until their eyes adjusted to the light after the pitch black darkness.

Once their eyes had adjusted to now-well lit chamber, they saw that they were standing on the edge of a giant checkerboard. On the other side of the board sat a stone gargoyle blocking the door into the next chamber. As they looked at the gargoyle, they saw that the eyes were glowing with a bright white light, cracks started appearing on the stone surface of the gargoyle as it started to move!

With a roar, the gargyle suddenly stood up, the stone broke off and flew in every direction like an egg shell, and the gargoyle stood before them, no longer stone but flesh and blood. He had come to life!

He was rather short for a gargoyle and instead of having wings on his back, this gargoyle's wings were between his arms and sides, and his skin was an olive green. The moment he came to life, all the kids instantly hid behind the adults.

"Hi, I'm Lexington," the gargoyle spoke, his voice was surprisingly soft and gentle. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you, but the door behind me will not open unless you beat me at checkers."

"Really? That's it?" Scrooge said in surprise, as if he expected more. "We don't have to fight ya to get into the next chamber?"

"Nope! Just beat me at checkers, but just so you know, I won't lose so easily, so you'd better bring your A game." Lexington said with a confident smirk, sitting down in a seat in front of the board.

Scrooge smirked with confidence as he took his seat in front of the giant checkerboard.

"So…" said Scrooge said, looking around at the board, his checkers pieces were black, while Lexington's pieces were red. "How do we play?"

"You just play it just like normal checkers, except to move each pieces, you'll have to direct them with your hand. Thus." Lexington directed his hand at red piece on the far right in the front row and waved his hand in the direction he wanted it to move. The red piece moved on its' own, sliding across from one square to the next in the corner. "I made the first move. It's your turn!"

"Alright then, one more thing before I start; is this the game with the must-jump rule, or is taking a jump optional?" asked Scrooge.

Lexington smiled. "Yes, you must take the jumps," he said. "You are wise to ask that."

"Now what happens if I lose?" Scrooge asked.

"Nothing, the door just won't open for you," Lexington said. "but each of you are welcome to try, if the previous player loses. All it takes is one win for the door to open, even if all but one of you loses."

"Okay then," Scrooge said, feeling a little better now. "I'll make my move now." he directed his hand at one of his black pieces and waved his hand to the next square and his piece slid across the floor into the next square.

It only took a few moves for both players to realize that they were both dealing with an expert checker player and as a result, both players took even longer to study the board before making a move.

Scrooge and Lexington took turns moving and jumping each other, At last, Scrooge managed to lock Lexington into a suicidal move, by sacrificing one of his pieces, forcing Lexington to jump it.

"Oh no!" Lexington said in horror. "If i jump that one, you'll triple-jump me!"

"Yep! Now hurry up and make your move so I can be on my way." Scrooge said with a satisfying smirk.

Lexington sighed with defeat. "I had a really good time playing you." he said with a weak smile.

"I did too, it's not everyday that I get to play with a good checker player such as yourself."

"Aw, you're just saying that," Lexington said, blushing. "Oh well, here I go." He made his move and jumped Scrooge's piece, and in return, Scrooge triple-jumped him, taking the last of Lexington's pieces, thus winning the game.

"That was a good game!" Lexington, "You may pass." He gave them a bow before returning to his podium. He made a scary gargoyle pose and then froze, his body turning into stone.

"Wow, he was actually pretty nice. Uh, you know, for a gargoyle." Chris commented. "And he wasn't all that scary either!"

"Aye, I do feel bad for him, turning back into stone the moment I won the game." Scrooge said with sadness in his voice. "But we must press on." he said, marching on to the next chamber.

This chamber was a circular room with a single large troll inside. The troll, who was twelve feet tall. grunted and growled as he picked up his wooden club and stood in front of them, blocking the way into the next chamber.

"Uh…" Scrooge said nervously, he gulped and then said. "Please let us paas."

"Oh, sure, why don't I just let everybody pass?" the troll said sarcastically. "Then what would be the purpose of me being here?"

"I-I'm sure we can work something out." Scrooge suggested feebly.

The troll slammed his club down on the floor, causing the floor to vibrate under their feet.

Chris was hiding, terrified behind Matthew, while the triplets hid behind their Uncle Donald.

Matthew then stepped forward, pushing Chris over to Donald as he walked towards the troll.

"Alright, what's your challenge?" Matthew asked, standing face-to-face with the troll.

The troll gave Matthew a nasty grin as he replied: "You must fight me!"

"Wait, what now? AAHH!" Matthew screamed as he dodged the troll's club that came swinging down upon him! It hit the floor instead, vibrating the floor and created a big dent in it. Then Matthew stood up with a confident smirk. "Okay, you want a fight, you got one!" he said, reaching into the back in his jacket for something.

The troll lunged for Matthew, his club held high. Matthew quickly pulled out his airfoil and swung it like a boomerang at the troll's hand and it hit its' target, causing the troll to cry out with pain and the club he was holding went flying upward out of his hand. He clutched his hand, grunting in pain. Matthew watched as the club turned over in midair and dropped onto its' owner's head with a loud "BONK!" The troll swayed, looking dazed and then he fell face down onto the floor with a thud that made the whole chamber tremble.

The triplets and Chris all cried out joyfully at Matthew's victory, jumping up and down in celeration.

"Stop that, boys!" Donald snapped sternly at them. "This isn't over yet. Save your victory dance for later."

"Yes, Unca Donald." the triplets and Chris said in unison, sounding saddened..

"Good work, lad!" Scrooge praised Matthew. "But let's hurry into the next chamber before he wakes up."

They ran into the next chamber and as they did so, bright purple flames burst into life in front of the door from which they have just came through, at the same time, black flames burst into life in front of the door leading into the next chamber. They were trapped, no way forward and no way back.

"We're trapped!" squawked Donald in a panic. "How do we get outta here?!"

"Donald! Calm down, lad." Scrooge said, looking around. "This is no time to panic."

"THIS IS THE PERFECT TIME TO PANIC!" Donald screamed. "WE'RE TRAPPED IN A ROOM WITH BOTH DOORS COVERED WITH FIRE!"

This outburst from Donald was rewarded with a bonk on the head from Scrooge's cane.

"I said, calm down, laddie." Scrooge said more firmly. "We must keep a cool head if we're gonna figure out a way out of here. Besides, you're scaring the kids even more by panicking."

"Huh?" Donald looked around at the kids and saw Huey trying to comfort a whimpering Louie while looking scared himself. Dewey was sticking close to his Uncle Scrooge, looking around nervous. Matthew was holding a crying Chris, trying to comfort him while glaring at Donald for upsetting his son even more by panicking. Donald looked down in shame. "I'm sorry..."

Scrooge put an arm around Dewey's shoulders and gave him a comforting one-arm hug. "There, there, lad, it's gonna be alright, just let me study this chamber, there might be a clue as to how to get out of here."

"But if what Unca Donald's right, what if we're trapped in here?" Dewey said, voicing his concerns.

"Nonsense, my boy, there is always a way out, we just have to find it. Hmmm..." Scrooge said, focusing his attention to his surroundings. It was then that he noticed a statue of a bear cub child beside the entrance, and there was another one standing beside the exit as well. He moved forward to study the statue. He then noticed that the child statue was sculpted with its' head tilted back and his mouth wide open, as if begging for a drink. On the podium under the statue's feet was a golden plate with words carved into it. Scrooge adjusted his glasses and narrowed his eyes to read it. "I'm thirsty, mister, please give me a drink." he read off. "Hmm, sounds like we have to give these statue something in order to move forward, but what?"

"Maybe we gotta give it one of those bottles." Huey said, pointing at a table in the center of the chamber, where there were seven bottles lined up in a row. They were all different sizes and shapes except for two, those two bottles were twins. Huey went over to the table and found a note laying in front of the bottles, he picked it up and read: "My children are thirsty, please give them one of these bottles to drink. The girl will lead you back to safety, bypassing all previous challenges back to the Entrance Hall, where you are encouraged to leave and never return. The boy, however, will lead you ahead to the treasure."

"Well at least we know which ones to give a drink to!" Scrooge said excitedly, hurrying over to the table.

"Wait, Unca Scrooge, there's more." Huey said and he continues to read: "They must be given the correct drink. Give the girl something tasty and she will open the way to safety. Give the boy something sweet, and he'll open the way to the treasure. To find the correct drink, please solve this riddle."

"Let me see that, lad." Scrooge said, taking the paper from Huey and begun reading the riddle.

 _Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,_

 _Two of us will help you, whichever you would find,_

 _One among us seven will let you move ahead,_

 _Another will transport the drink giver back instead,_

 _Two among our number hold only grape juice,_

 _Three of us are killers, waiting hidden in line_

 _Choose, unless you wish to stay here forevermore_

 _To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four:_

 _First, however slyly the poison tries to hide_

 _You will always find some on grape juice's left side_

 _Second, different are those who stand at either end_

 _But if you would move onward, neither is your friend;_

 _Third, as you see clearly, all are different size_

 _Neither dwarf nor giant hold death in their insides;_

 _Fourth, the second left and the second on the right_

 _Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight._

Everyone looked confused at this riddle, even Scrooge was scratching his head.

"So let me get this straight," Matthew said, clearly struggling to make sense of this riddle. "There are seven bottles, one will help us move ahead, the other will help us go back. Two are grape juice and three are poison… but which is the right drink?"

"That's why we need to solve this and find out." Scrooge said. "It's all about logic, laddie, that's what this is; logic."

"Um..." said Chris timidly, turning his face away from Matthew's chest from which he has been hiding it, he was still scared from the three-headed dragon as this was his first-ever dangerous adventure and this would be scary for any seven-year-olds. But despite his fear, he had been listening to what was going on around him. "I think the answer is in that line ' _neither dwarf nor giant hold death in their insides.'_ So the biggest and the smallest bottles are safe."

"Hey, you're right, Chris!" Matthew said, sounding like he couldn't believe he missed something so simple. "Why didn't I think of that? But the question is, which of them should we give the boy, the big one or the small one?"

"Hmm…" said Huey, taking the paper back from Scrooge and frowning as he studied the riddle. Then he moved towards the table, muttering to himself and pointing at the different bottles. "I got it!" he cried, snatching up the smallest bottle and holding it up. "The smallest bottle will help us move ahead to the treasure!"

Scrooge nodded. "Good work, laddie, now so give it to the boy statue."

Huey walked over to the boy statue, pulled the cork out of the bottle and then poured its' contents into the statue's open mouth. The statue's eyes glowed bright white and the black flames blocking the way into the next chamber shrunk and faded away. Now the way was clear.

Louie, now emboldened by Huey's successful puzzle-solving, was the first to rush ahead into the next chamber before the others.

"Louie! Slow down, wait for us!" Scrooge called after him, but Louie seems to not have heard him and they all followed Louie into the final chamber.

The next chamber was dark, the only source of light came from a high pedestal in the center of the chamber. Louie was already half-way up to the pedestal as the others entered the chamber

"Louie! Get back here, there could be a trap up there." Scrooge shouted up after him.

"WHAT?!" Dewey exclaimed. "You mean Louie could run into a death trap up there?! LOUIE, IF YOU RUN INTO A DEATH TRAP UP THERE, I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!" he yelled up after his brother.

"Not now, Dewey," Scrooge snapped at him, before starting to climb the stairs after Louie as fast as he could. "Louie, whatever you do, DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING!"

"Huh?" Louie said, who was already at the top, reaching for the red ruby-like stone, closing his hands around the stone. He then tried to pick it up, but it was stuck to the pedestal. He tugged and wrenched at the stone as hard as he could, until finally, he pulled the stone out of the pedestal. He had tugged so hard that he fell backwards down the stairs and went rolling down the stairs like a wheel until he bumped into Scrooge half-way down, causing Scrooge to roll down the stairs with him! When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Scrooge lay sprawl on the floor, seeing stars while Louie lay on top of him. Louie panted, "Thanks for breaking my fall, Unca Scrooge."

"Eh-eh-eh-eh…." Scrooge said in a daze. "No… no problem…. Oh…Oh boy, I'm definitely gonna be feeling this in the morning…"

The chamber was suddenly filled with wild evil maniacal laughter. Green clouds of smoke billowed out of the pedestal, they formed stormy clouds above the pedestal, flashes of lightning and striking the ground near Scrooge and company, followed by a booming thunder..

Chris shrieked in fear and and hugged his Dad's leg, hiding his face on it.

"FREE! HA, HA, HA, HA! FREE AT LAST! HA, HA HA, HA!" cried a triumphant voice, laughing an evil laugh.

"Louie, what did you do?!" demanded Donald, looking both angry and scared.

"I DON'T KNOW!" Louie cried. "All I did was grab this stone!" he said, holding up the red ruby-like stone.

The laughter finally stopped and they looked up to see a lion with black mane standing high on the pedestal, gazing down at them with yellow eyes and green pupils. There was a scar over his left eye. He was dressed all in black with a brown cloak and he wore black swordsman gloves and black boots.

Scrooge took one look at this lion and could instantly sense the danger this lion posed.

"Run!" Scrooge ordered, they all turned and begin to run towards the exit, but stopped in their tracks when they saw that the lion was now standing there in front of the exit, as if he teleported there.

"And where do you think you're going in such a hurry, hmm?" the lion said lazily, looking down on them as a predator toying with his prey. "Why, I haven't even got to thank the one who freed me. So, which one of you is it?"

"Louie!" Huey and Dewey said at once, pushing Louie forward.

"What? C'mon guys, not cool..." Louie whined.

"What's not cool is _you_ freeing this creep!" Huey said firmly, pointing at the lion before them.

"Aw c'mon, how was I supposed to know that grabbing the Philosopher's Stone would free this guy?" Louie said defensively.

"How, indeed," the lion purred. "Well whatever the case, you have the Great Emperor Scar's gratitude, and in return… I won't torture you, I'll leave you untouched."

"Ohh…" Louie sighed with relief. "Good, that...that's good…"

"But with the others, I'll do as I please!" Scar declared, aiming his hand at a random target and he got Chris!

Chris screamed in fear as he was lifted up off the floor and floated in the air, as if suspended by invisible ropes, still screaming and crying out for help, as if he was surrounded by demons.

"CHRIS!" cried Matthew, then he turned a face of rage towards Scar. "What are you doing to him?! Put him down!"

"Hmm," Scar said, pretending to think it over. "No!" he said, laughing evilly. "As to what I'm doing to him, I'm making him see all the things he most feared at once, as well as making him feel pain from the objects of his fears."

Soon, Chris' screams were mixed with sobs as he writhed and twitch in midair.

"STOP IT!" Matthew roared furiously, running at Scar, but Scar casually lifted a hand and Matthew froze in mid-run.

"Oh quiet down, you'll get your turn soon enough." Scar said maliciously, waving his hand which cause Matthew to be thrown at the wall. He slammed into the wall and then slid down it to the floor.

"Stop it! Let go of him, ya vile brute!" Scrooge yelled angrily, waving his cane towards Scar, while Donald stood in front of the triplets, shielding them from Scar with his body, "He's just a wee lad!"

"Wee lad or not, I have no prejudices about who I torture." Scar said lazily, clearly enjoying the pain he was causing in these people by making this one little boy suffer.

"Let him go, Scar!" said a new voice, this one was high pitch and echoes throughout the chamber.

"Oh no…" Scar groaned in annoyance, lowering his hand, causing Chris to fall and hit the ground. "Not that meddlesome Dedi Master..."

A white vortex that seems to be made of light, outlined by swirling white clouds opened up and a small figure walked out of it, a figure with two large round ears. It was Mickey Mouse, wearing a tan color robes and holding a golden glowing rod in his hand like a sword.

"Ahh, Grand Dedi Mickey, how nice of you to join us for my return." Scar said, as if mockingly inviting Mickey to a tea party.

"Scar! How did you get loose?" Mickey demanded, "Who freed you?"

"Why, one of those adorable little ducklings over there, the one in green." Scar said, gesturing towards the trio. "I think his name is… Loser, was it?"

"LOUIE!" said Huey and Dewey in unison, correcting Scar while giving Louie an angry look. Louie shrink back and gave a sheepish grin.

Mickey was looking Louie's way with a stern look. "I'll deal with you later." he said before turning his attention back on Scar. "Right now I must take Scar out!"

Mickey lept into the air, charging at Scar, ready to swing his glowing golden blade at him. Scar, looked bored, suddenly thrusted out his own blade, which was red. Now Mickey and Scar were dueling with bright glowing swords. Mickey bouncing around Scar to do a evade and attack combination.

"Chris, CHRIS!" Matthew had picked up Chris and was shaking him gently, trying to wake him. But Chris was unresponsive, he just stared blankly ahead, still alive but was shell shocked. "CHRIS!" Matthew was sobbing now, "Please, speak to me." But Chris said nothing, just stared blankly at him, unable to respond. "Chris…." Matthew sobbed as he gently lay Chris back down on the ground. Then he slowly stood up, his grief turning into rage as he turned to look at Scar. And suddenly Matthew let out a roar of fury and charged at Scar. "YOU MONSTER! THAT'S MY SON! I'M GONNA MAKE YOU PAY FOR WHAT YOU DID TO HIM!"

"NO!" Mickey cried, suddenly fearful for Matthew's life. "Stay back!" But Matthew ignored him and continued to charge at Scar with his fist drawn back.

"What?!" Scar gasped as he barely had time to dodge Matthew's fist "Get out of my way!" he raised a hand to Matthew, attempting to lift him up and throw him against the wall like last time. He was used to being able to sweep people aside and then walk all over them. But to his horror, he found that his power no longer work on Matthew as he continues to charge, this time succeeding in punching Scar in the jaw! "AAHH! What's happening, I am not liking this.." Scar said, backing away from Matthew.

"You messed with this guy's son," Mickey answered. "And now he's driven by rage and love for his son. Love, that which your dark powers will always fail against."

"WHAT?!" Scar screamed, before he was dealt another blow to the face by Matthew's fist. "You, how dare you punch the Great Emperor!" he yelled, raising his red blade to cut Matthew in half, but Mickey jumped in and caught Scar's blade with his own.

Now Matthew was doing all the attacks, punching and kicking every inch of Scar that he could, while Mickey defended Matthew from Scar's blade.

Battered and bruised, Scar realized he could not win on his own against Matthew and Mickey's combined forces. He waved a hand behind himself, and a dark black vortex appeared, through which Scar made his hasty retreat and vanished. The vortex instantly vanished along with Scar, Matthew tried to dive in after Scar, but as the vortex vanished, he fell face down on the chamber floor.

Furious, Matthew got back up to his feet. "NO! GET BACK HERE, YOU COWARD! I'M GONNA MAKE YOU PAY FOR WHAT YOU DID TO CHRIS!"

"Calm down," Mickey said softly. "He got away, there's nothing we can do about it now."

"Yes, there is!" Matthew snapped. "You, create that… that thing you used to get here."

"I'm afraid it's not that simple." Mickey said sadly. "I have to know where Scar went in order to create portal directly to him."

"Chris!" Matthew said, and he hurried back to Chris' side and Mickey followed.

As Matthew tried desperately to get Chris to respond to him, Mickey frowned as he studied Chris, he seems to be scanning him with his eyes..

"Your son's mind has been assaulted by visions of everything he fears… it overwhelmed him, that's why he's in shell shock right now." Mickey said gravely with his hand on Matthew's shoulder.

"Then _YOU_ fix him!" Matthew snapped at him.

Looking sorry for him, Mickey said: "I'll do my best." before placing a hand on Chris' head. "OH!" Mickey gasped. "Oh wow..." he sounded amazed.

"What?" Matthew said urgently.

"The Heart is strong with this one…" Mickey said, more to himself than to any of them. He then shook off his shock and begun the Mind Scan, followed by the Mind Healing. And finally, Chris closed his eyes and begin breathing slowly. "He's asleep now. I was able to undo most of the damages but not all. He will be the same as he always was, except now he has a phobia for Scar and a phobia for thunder and lightning."

"How do you know that?" Matthew asked as the gang now gathered around Chris.

"I scanned his mind, I know everything about him now, including his newly acquired phobias." Mickey said. "Scar must have sensed the potential in him, that's probably why he targeted Chris first. Yes, I know his name now, I know all of you from scanning Chris' mind." he turn to Louie. "Though you are responsible for releasing the multiverse's most evil emperor, I'll go easy on ya, as you did not know Scar was imprisoned here, you thought you were hunting treasure. However, you still must be punished. You and your entire party must now work for me in order to atone for what you've done."

Louie gulped, but was glad to know that Mickey at least knew that he never meant for Scar to be released.

"Work for you?" Scrooge laughed. "I'm sorry, but Scrooge McDuck doesn't work for anybody."

"It's either you work for me, or take your punishment of living your life dirt poor." Mickey said grimly. "Don't worry, I'll treat ya fairly. It's just that all of you need to atone for what you did here. _YOU_ released Scar onto the world, it's only right that you help us fight against him and hopefully reseal him."

Scrooge gulped and made no more objections.

"But this isn't fair!" cried Dewey. "Louie was the one who released him, why do we have to work for you too?"

"Because," Mickey said, staring Dewey sternly in the eyes. "You came here as a group, and as a group, whatever one of you does, you all do it together. Louie may have gotten to the stone first, but you ALL came here with the intent of taking the stone, So as such, you will all share Louie's fate, which isn't so bad, I assure you. I'm pretty fair."

"Does even Chris has to work for you?" Matthew asked.

"Yes, he does and so do you, Matthew." Mickey said firmly.

"But… now's not a good time for us. You see, we're—"

"Looking for your lost son, Kit, I know." Mickey said. "Back at HQ. we have the means of finding anyone we want. So as payment for working for me, we'll help you find your son." Mickey promised.

"Really?" Matthew was stunned, hardly daring to believe it. "Really, you'll help me find my son?"

"Yes, we will." Mickey said as he waved his hand and the white vortex appeared before them. "Step through here, on the other end is the D-Star, our HQ."

With promised aid to find his lost son, Matthew was sold, he didn't have anything to go on anyway, and this aid might help them find Kit a lot faster. Matthew picked Chris up, who was still asleep, and carried him, moving like a sleepwalker towards the vortex.

The triplets ran into the vortex after Matthew, led by Dewey, shouting: "C'mon guys! Last one through is a rotten egg!"

As they ran through it and vanished, Scrooge and Donald glanced at one another and then reluctantly followed. For the two uncles of the triplets, there was really no other choice for them, as where ever they go, they have to follow

On the other side of the vortex, they came out to find Matthew and the triplets staring around at a suburban neighborhood with a huge white castle dominating the neighborhood at the end of the street with blue pointed towers. Over the entrance of the castle were the neon-lit words "D-Star Mall"

"This must be the living quarters of the Headquarter." Matthew said, looking around in awe. There was a lot to take in, all the nice houses and the castle mall. "Are we meant to STAY here?"

"Only if you want to," Mickey's voice said behind them, who had just stepped through the vortex. "You can either live here, or continue live in your home world. You guys would be safer living here, especially now that Scar has been freed."

"Why does Scar being on the loose make that much of a difference?" Scrooge asked.

"Well, do you know a Magica De Spell?" inquired Mickey.

Scrooge suddenly glared. "All too well, but what does that no-good witch got to do with Scar?"

"Scar and Magica together poses a great threat to all worlds." Mickey explained. "Together they can destroy worlds. With Scar and Magica both out there, your world is in danger of being destroyed."

"But… the world can't be destroyed until I find Kit!" Matthew said, sounding devastated. "You promised to help me find him!"

"And I will stand by that promise." Mickey said solemnly. "But in the meantime, there is work to be done in order to keep all the worlds safe from the forces of darkness. Our jobs as Dedis is to protect the worlds from devastation and destruction.

"Now hold on," interjected Scrooge. "Ya keep talking about the world like there's more than one."

"That's because there are," Mickey revealed. "There are numerous worlds as the stars in the sky. Now..." he said, opening his portal again. "Is there anything from your world that you'd like me to bring back here?"

Everyone gasped, looking suddenly tensed.

"Ya don't expect us to live here, do ya?" Scrooge asked, voicing the question that was on everyone's mind.

"To live here, or not to live here, that is your choice. However, living on different worlds now would make training you guys to be Dedis difficult," Mickey said seriously. "And dangerous, now that Scar has been released. Together with Magica, your world could be destroyed at any moment. This is the safest place of all the worlds, there are no worldly threats and no bad guys here. Neither Scar nor Magicia can enter this world."

"I'll stay," Matthew said, still holding the sleeping cub in his arms. "If becoming a Dedi means finding Kit the fastest way possible while providing a safe haven for Chris to grow up in and keep him safe from that monster, I'll do it."

Donald and Scrooge glanced at one another, each wanting the same thing for the triplets.

"Well… if you put it that way… I'll stay too." Donald said hesitantly. "At least the boys will be safe here."

"Aye," Scrooge agreed. "No bad guys here means no Beagle Boys to steal me money!"

"Is there anything from your world you'd like me to bring here?" Mickey asked again.

Laughing joyously, Scrooge said. "Of course there are! Me Money Bin and McDuck Manor."

"Okay, anything else?" Mickey said, writing it down on a computer tablet, writing with his fingertip on the screen.

"What is that?" Scrooge asked, pointing at the tablet in Mickey's hand.

"It's a tablet, basically a small portable computer." Mickey answered,

"But computers are supposed to be huge!" Scrooge said, sounding baffled by the tablet. "Big enough ta fill a room!"

"Oh my… I forgot, you guys are from the nineteen-thirties… Well, here at the D-Star, we have technologies from future generations."

"Wow," said the triplets, they gathered around Mickey, dazing in awe at his tablet.

"Where can we get one of those?" Louie asked.

"You can get this and many more things at the D-Star Mall over there." Mickey said, pointing to the castle mall at the end the suburban street.

Without another word, the triplets all made a mad dash towards the mall.

"BOYS! Get back here! You don't even know the area yet!" Donald yelled after them before taking off after them.

"Anything else?" Mickey asked Scrooge and Matthew, both of whom remained behind.

"Yes," Scrooge said. "I'm sure Donald would want his houseboat."

"And I'd like my hangar and my Conwing L-sixteen airplane called the _McQueen_." Matthew said.

"Okay, I'll be back with everything." Mickey said. "And then we'll discuss Dedi training for you, Donald and the boys."

"What the— now hold on!" Matthew said. "I was under the impression that only I was to become your Dedi, why are you involving the boys in this?" By 'boys', Matthew correctly assumed that Mickey was referring to the triplets _and_ Chris.

"So that they can become Dedis too, when they're older." Mickey replied. "Even if by choice they don't become Dedis, they'll still reap the benefit of being able to protect and defend themselves from the Dedi training. The last thing you want is for them to be completely helpless when you're too locked in combat to save them."

Matthew winced at the very thought and as a former squadron captain, he understood the importance of being ready to fight for your life, for your friends and family, as well as for your homeland.

"And also," Mickey added. "Had Chris been a student Dedi already, Scar's powers would have been much less effective on him. Scar wouldn't have been able to damage him the way that he did."

"Oh, alright fine!" Matthew said after a moment of painful parental internal struggle. "But only so Chris can protect and defend himself, not so he can fight for you."

"No, I'd never let a child fight in real missions," Mickey said. "I'd train the children to fight in self-defence, not in combat. I'll see ya later."

And with that, Mickey conjured a vortex with a wave of his hand and stepped through it.

And for the next five years, Matthew and Donald had been going on missions for the Dedi, traveling to different worlds and ridding them of the forces of darkness, lest they be destroyed. Chris and the triplet met many other children their age and trained alongside them as student Dedis, they were called Young'uns. During their training, they study the Heart and how to use it. They also had to practice with toy D-blades and if they ever got hit, poked or jabbed with the toy D-blades even once, they'd lose the only life they have in the swordsman game.

Within a few years, Chris became so good in lessons and practice matches that he soon became bored and focus more on how he misses his Dad, who was only home half the week, the other half he was out on missions to protect some random world from certain destruction. Chris had to stay with Scrooge at McDuck Manor when his Dad was away on missions.

In his free time, Chris was learning how to use futuristic technologies, such as game consoles, iPhones, iPads and many more. And he taught his Dad how to use them whenever he could, mostly when Matthew was home from his mission.

Chris, who had his Dad with him all the time for his whole life, suddenly find himself having to adjust to not having him around half the time. Although he loved Scrooge as a surrogate great-uncle and Mrs. Beakley as his surrogate grandmother (he even calls her Grandma Beakley), they just weren't the same as his Dad.

Mrs. Beakley did not mind Chris dubbing her as his surrogate grandmother, she grew to love Chris as a surrogate grandson, and Webby, though extremely jealous at first, eventually grew to like Chris too, and agreed to share her Granny with him if he agree to be her big brother. Chris agreed to this role and learned what it was to love a sibling, something he knew he was missing out on since his brother Kit was discarded by his own flesh and blood.

Saddened by thoughts of Kit, as well as his Dad being away too much for his liking, Chris begin asking if he could go with his Dad on missions, but no matter how many times he'd pleaded and begged, he was always given a very firm "NO!" He did not challenge that 'no', seeing it as the final say, the impenetrable wall that he should not challenge.

But a girl in his class, a red-headed tomboy duck named Gosalyn, saw how he wanted to go with his Dad and she convinced him to go anyway."

"You miss your Dad, right? So go with him!" she'd tell him.

"But he said no, and Master Mickey said no." Chris said dejectedly. "No matter how many times I beg, they alway say no."

"So they say no, what's stopping ya from sneaking onto your Dad's plane and going with him anyway?" Gosalyn said mischievously.

"But they'll get mad if I do that," Chris protested. "You've never seen my Dad angry, his anger is not something I'd wish on anybody."

"What are ya, chicken?" Gosalyn taunted him.

"What?!" Chris cried indignantly. "No! I'm no chicken, I'm a Cloudkicker, Cloudkickers are not chicken!""

"You missed your Dad?" Gosalyn questioned.

"Well….yeah, more than anything." Chris admitted.

"Then what are you gonna do? Sit around here and be a good boy while your Dad's out there, risking his life? Or are you going to break some rules like eggs and be with your Dad anyway?"

"NO! I mean, yeah, I'll break the rules and go with my Dad!" Chris said, suddenly inspired by her words.

"Then get on that plane and hide somewhere before your Dad takes off!"

"YEAH! I'll do it!" Chris said, standing up and marching over the _McQueen_. And thus begun Chris' many stowaway adventures with his Dad until Matthew got sick of Chris stowing away in his plane and he talked Mickey into allowing Chris to accompany him on his missions.

"I dunno, Matthew… He's still too young…" Mickey said hesitantly. "And I did say I'd never let a child go on missions unless it was a practical mission."

"I know, I don't like it either, but he's determined to be with me and nothing's really stopping him from stowing away on my plane and I'm getting tired of finding him hiding in all kinds of unusual hiding places. I'm afraid he might hide in a place that's hard to get him out of."

Looking reluctant, Mickey allowed Chris to go with his Dad on missions as long as he did not hinder the missions. And thus begun Matthew and Chris' many dangerous adventures together.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **This two-part episode has been a lot of fun writing, and I hope you had fun reading them. In the next episode, we will return to the present and move forward from there. In my original story, The Organization Phoenix, I wrote a flashback episode on Kit's past as he grew up in the orphanage, escaped and lived life on the street until he ran into the Air Pirates. In this rebooted story, I decided to write a flashback episode on Matthew and Chris' past, to explore their characters.**

 **I am still undecided on whether I should do another flashback episode about Kit in future, since I've already written it in the Organization Phoenix. Please let me know if you would like another flashback episode on Kit's past or if you want me to stop writing flashbacks and move the story forward. Your thoughts and opinions would be welcome and considered.**

 **It should be noted that Mickey is in the role of Master Yoda, while Scar is playing the role of Count Dooku, they are both dressed as the roles they played. So picture Mickey and Scar dressed as Yoda and Dooku respectively and you'd be pretty spot on when you imagine them fighting each other in similar fashion.**

 **The D-Star is three Death Stars combined to form Mickey's head shape. The outer shell of the D-Star was made to protect the world within it, basically a plant body armor. The inner shell of the D-Star was made to imitate the earth's blue sky during the day and a starry sky at night.**

 **In Kingdom Hearts, the Organization XIII's members are able to travel between words via Corridors of Darkness, a kind of portal or vortex that leads from one place to another. In this story, I decided to create the Corridors of Light that Mickey used to get to the chamber where Scar was. And Scar used the Corridors of Darkness to escape from Matthew and Mickey.**


	8. Episode Eight - Chris

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Disney Afternoon lineup.**

* * *

 **Episode Eight**

 **Chris' First Day of School**

* * *

There was a stunning silence within Higher for Hire as Matthew finished his tale. He closed his eyes and bowed his head as though in prayer. He was feeling a mixture of relief and sadness. Relieved that he finally got everything off his chest, it was like a heavy weight that had now been lifted. And sadness at the possibility that Kit might not want to come back with them.

They were all seated at the kitchen table, as they had been gathered around Matthew as he told his story.

"Wow..." KIt said with awe respect in his voice. "You went through all of that… just to find me?"

Matthew looked at him, it was all he could do to keep himself from breaking down into tears.

"Of course, even if I've never met you before recently, you're my son! I would have searched to the ends of the galaxy for you!"

"And you had to do it all while being a single parent to Chris," Rebecca said admiringly, who was cuddling Chris in her lap, comforting him from when Matthew had gotten to the part of Scar in his tale. Chris was hiding his face in her jacket and shaking. It was clear that any mention of Scar causes Chris to experience extreme stress and anxiety "That must've been hard."

"You've no idea…" Matthew muttered. "But I would have done nothing different. I'm… I'm glad I have found Kit, and I'm… I'm happy that he found a loving home here."

Kit was thinking back on Matthew's tale, and there was one part of the story that bothered him, something that made his blood boil. "So, I was given to the orphanage, practically thrown out like trash, _FOR FURNITURES?!_ " he cried in indignation Not only was Kit outraged by this, he was also deeply hurt by it too, being discarded by members of his own family.

All the adults, Baloo, Rebecca and Matthew all winced at that. That cannot have been an easy pill to swallow.

"Yeah, I don't blame ya for poundin' the livin' daylight out of 'em, Matt." Baloo growled, cracking his knuckles menacingly. "I would have done the exact same thing!"

Kit bowed his head and begin to cry. He tried to fight back his tears, but he was overwhelmed by it and it broke out.

"Kit…? Are you okay, Lil' Britches?" Baloo asked, looking at Kit with concern.

"No, I'm not," Kit sobbed. "I've always thought I was unwanted while I was in the orphanage, cuz no one would adopt me, so I thought my family didn't want me either, and the story of my aunt throwing me away like that… confirms it!"

There was a loud _BANG_ and everyone jumped, startled as Matthew suddenly stood up, knocking his chair over backwards as he did so. He reached across the table, lifted Kit out of his chair and hugged him very tightly to his chest. Kit gasped and his body tensed up in Matthew's arm. Father or not, Kit was uncomfortable about being hugged and held by someone he barely knew. But Matthew did not let him go and continues to hold and hug him.

"Kit... Don't you ever even _think_ you were unwanted, again!" Matthew sobbed as he hugged Kit. "I wanted you, Chris wanted you, your mother wanted you! And these guys want you too." he said, nodding towards Baloo and Rebecca.

It was a very tearful scene, father and son, reunited after twelve years, were hugging each other and crying. Kit's tensed body loosen up and relaxed in Matthew's arms.

Touched by this beautiful scene of reunion, Rebecca took out her handkerchief with one hand, as she was still holding a slightly traumatized Chris in her lap. she sniffed as she dabbed at her eyes with the handkerchief before blowing her nose into it.

"Yeah, Lil' Britches," Baloo said gently, patting Kit on the back while he was still being held in Matthew's arms. "I would've adopted ya, if I've met ya back then."

"Same," Rebecca nodded, her voice cracking, as if she wanted to cry, "I would have thought you'd make a good big brother to Molly."

"See, Kit?" Matthew said soothingly, still hugging Kit and doesn't seem to want to let go anytime soon. "Just because some moronic relatives didn't want to care for you, doesn't mean that you were unwanted. I really wanted to find you. And I've searched far and wide for you."

"I know, Dad." Kit said, calling Matthew, Dad for the first time to his face. "It was very clear in your story that you tried so hard to find me, but it still hurts that I was thrown away for new furnitures."

"I know, son, I know." Matthew said soothingly, rubbing the back of Kit's head. "They never realized what a treasure trove of talents you are, what a miracle you are and what a blessing you are to those around you."

As Kit continues to cry into Matthew's chest, Matthew felt his heart swell at their reunion as he hugged his long-lost son.

There was a moment of silence before Kit pulled away.

"Did you say you called all the orphanages by telephone?" he asked, frowning thoughtfully.

"Yeah, I tried every orphanages I could find in the phone book, even out-of-area ones." Matthew said, then he too frowned thoughtfully. "Why, was there a reason I could never find you that way?"

"Yeah, the orphanage I grew up in was really old and outdated, and the people that worked there were really old fashioned." Kit revealed. "They never had a phone, so you couldn't have called them."

"Wait a second, that orphanage you've just described sounds familiar…" Matthew said, putting Kit down, withdrawing a map from an inside pocket of his jacket, and spreading it out on the kitchen table. It was a map of several towns and cities alongside Cape Suzette. Kit looked at the map and noticed that it had a lot of red X's, obviously marking places Matthew and Chris had been over the years. There was even a red X in the Duckburg area, showing that they visited an orphanage there as well. "Was this orphanage somewhere in the Freeport area?"

"Yeah, it was right there," Kit said, pointing at one of the X's, marking the street where his orphanage was. "Wait… that's been marked... you've _BEEN_ there?!"

"Yeah, but you weren't there that day." Matthew said, then he groaned in frustration, palming his face. "Ohh, I'm such an idiot! It's so obvious! So typical of Aunt Figg to pick that orphanage for you, as she's old fashioned herself.. How old were you when you ran away?"

"I was… seven..." Kit said with slight regret in his voice. "And I was really too young for the streets, as I found out the hard way…"

"Hey, that's how old I was when we worked for Uncle Scrooge." Chris said in surprise. "Do you remember what day it was when you ran away?"

"Not really, that was five years ago, and I didn't exactly keep track with the dates at that age." Kit said, shrugging.

Matthew withdrew a record book from an outer pocket of his jacket and skimmed through it. "I wrote it down here somewhere when we visited that orphanage… Yes, we were there on the sixth of June."

"Sixth of June?" Kit said in surprise. "I… think it was around that time I… Wait, I remember now! I ran away the night before that!"

This revelation shocked everyone present in the room. Matthew froze, his face downcast.

"So close... _SO CLOSE!"_ Matthew said, feeling that he had somehow been cheated. "You're telling me that we came so close to finding you back then, and we've only missed you by mere hours?!" he said, his voice trembling. "If you had stayed for just a few more hours, Chris and I would've found you back then!"

"I'm sorry! I-I didn't know!" Kit cried, now regretting that he had ran away from the orphanage more than ever before. "I thought I was an orphan, I didn't know I had a Dad and a brother out there looking for me. I just wanted open sky, planes and adventures! I wanted to find my wings! All my days in the orphanage always felt like another day wasted. So I left, I didn't want to waste my life being in that place till I got too old to be adopted. "

Matthew got down on one knee in front of Kit and hugged him. "It's okay, Kit. No need to be sorry. You didn't know." He then reached over with one arm and pulled Chris into the hug too so that he was hugging both of his boys at the same time for the first time ever. "The important thing is that we're all back together again."

Kit cuddled with his Dad and brother for a moment, looking happy, but then he raised his head, looking concerned. "But what does this means for me? Are you taking me away to live with you guys?" he asked apprehensively as Matthew set him and Chris down.

Baloo, who had been watching this reunion silently for the past few minutes, stiffened, looking suddenly tensed. This did not go unnoticed by Matthew, who saw this as confirmation that Baloo had indeed developed fatherly feelings towards his son.

With a face full of reluctance, Matthew said: "That is up to you, kiddo."

"I got a choice?" Kit said in surprise.

"Yeah, I think you're mature enough to make your own decisions." Matthew said with a smile. "Whatever you decide, I'm sure we can work something out."

"I…" Kit said, then he stopped short. He was torn. He wanted to stay with Baloo and Rebecca at Higher for Hire, this was the home he sought for so long, but at the same time, he wanted to be with his Dad and brother too.

Chris was looking intensely worried that Kit might choose Baloo over them, but he waited patiently to hear Kit's choice.

There was a long silence. Kit looked as though he was undergoing some painful internal struggle. He kept looking between Baloo and Matthew and back again, his face growing more and more tensed.

Baloo was watching Kit nervously, as if his life hung in the balance with Kit's decision. Could this be goodbye? Was Kit about to walk out of his life now that he found his true family?

With tears in his eyes, Kit finally said: "Please don't make me choose… I love all of you, I don't want to pick one over the other."

Matthew sighed and knelt down before Kit, placing his hands on Kit's shoulders. "It's alright, Kit, just tell me what you want, and we'll work something out."

"I…. I want to stay here... w-with Baloo," Kit said, glancing at Baloo. "But I… also want to be with you and Chris."

Matthew smiled warmly at the thought that Kit still wanted to be with him and Chris. "Then how about this?" he said, brushing away Kit's tears with a finger. "You live here with Baloo and then come and stay with us on weekends? Would that work?"

"I… I guess so, yeah, but I can still come and see you guys whenever I want, right?"

"Of course," Matthew said, standing up. "Our door will always be open to you. Right, Chris?"

"Yeah!" Chris said, nodding. "And you'll have your own bedroom while you're with us!"

Baloo let out a breath of relief. "Phew! Almost gave me an heart attack, wasn't sure I could take much more of that…" he said weakly, leaning against the wall.

"Don't worry, Papa Bear, I won't leave ya!" Kit said, running at Baloo and jumping into the large gray bear's arms.

"Baloo," Matthew said, reaching into his jacket and withdrawing an official-looking document. "This is for you."

"What's this, Matt?" Baloo asked, taking the document and looking at it with an bemused expression.

"Oh, it's just a piece of paper with a bunch of legal mumbo-jumbo that says I appointed you, Baloo, as legal guardian of Kit.." Matthew said smiling. "Congratulations, Baloo! You're a godfather, and it's a boy!"

Baloo gasped, looking as though he might faint!

Kit gasped with delight and hugged Baloo tightly with a cry of: "Oh, Papa Bear!"

"But what about Chris?" Rebecca said, "Don't you want a guardian for him too?"

"Chris' already got a guardian." Matthew said. "It's Scrooge McDuck. Oh, and by the way, Rebecca, this is for you." he said, handing her a similar document.

"What's this?" Rebecca asked, accepting the document and scanning it carefully. "What the… this is the same thing you gave Baloo, except it's got my name on it instead of Baloo's!"

"Yep, Baloo is now Kit's godfather and you're his godmother." Matthew said, smiling broadly.

"Not that I would have said no to such an honor, Matthew." Rebecca said. "But,,, you should've asked me before appointing me."

"I wanted it to be a surprise and it wouldn't be a surprise if I've asked beforehand." Matthew said sheepishly.

"I'll let it slide this time, since this is for the benefit of my staff navigator," Rebecca said, taking hers and Baloo's documents and walking over to the safe to lock them safely away. "But next time, please ask before you do something like this, so I could be prepared at a moment's notice to take in a second child if anything happens to you or Baloo."

"Well, Chris and I better get going," Matthew said as he placed a hand on Chris' shoulder. "He starts school tomorrow."

"Aww...already?" Chris groaned, his shoulders slumped.

Matthew laughed. "Yep, and Kit will be your guide for the first few days."

"Aw, don't worry, Chris, you're gonna like Cape Suzette Elementary school." Kit assured him. "And with me as your big brother, I'll make sure no one bullies you!"

"Who says _you're_ the big brother?" Chris said with a bored face. "I could be _YOUR_ big brother, you know."

Matthew laughed at that. "Well, your birth certificate would disagree with you there, Kit beat you at being born by five minutes."

"Aw, man!" Chris whined, looking put out. "I wanted to be the oldest! Oh well…" he shrugged and then turned to Kit. "You'd better not let me down, big brother." he said, holding up a fist.

"Don't count on being let down, lil bro." Kit said, smirking as they shared a fist bump.

"Come on, Chris," Matthew said, going to the door and holding it open for him.

"Coming, Dad." Chris said, then he hugged Kit. "'Night, big bro."

"'Night, lil bro." Kit said, hugging Chris back.

Chris then turned and walked through the door Matthew was holding open for him.

"'Night, all," Matthew said, waving a hand. "'Night, Kit,"

"'Night, Dad." Kit said, waving back.

Matthew walked through the door, closing the door behind him.

Later, at Matthew's new hangar...

"Oh wow…" Chris said in awe, standing in the middle of the living room. "This is just like our hangar back at home. Well, except for that box thing…" he said, pointing at the radio on the opposite side from the sofa. "What is that thing?"

"That's a radio, son." Matthew said, looking as though he was holding back a laugh, knowing exactly how his son was going to react to this really old piece of technology.

"Whaaat?! B-but, back at home we have a forty-inch TV mounted on the wall where that radio is." Chris whined. "Why can't we have a TV instead?"

"Because the radio is a more-common source of news and home entertainment in this era," Matthew said patiently. "And even if we _did_ get a TV, it would be in black and white, standard definition and have a very limited number of channels. We'd get more from the radio than the TV."

"Wh-what?" Chris looked as though he wanted to cry. "I'd say I wanted to go home, but…" he looked sadly down at the floor. "I don't wanna leave Kit behind, not after spending my entire life trying to find him."

Matthew walked up to Chris, picked him up and hugged him. "I know it's a lot to adjust to, but you'll get used to it, eventually… Just be happy we found Kit and it only costs us our twenty-first century techs and nothing else. But..." he sighed heavily as he put Chris back down. "Those Shadow Minions really complicate things, we may have to leave sooner than expected, but for the time being, let's enjoy the time we have in this world."

Chris gasped. looked shocked. "You mean…? But then why are we standing here? Let's go warn everybody!"

Matthew sighed. "Few would believe us, and those that do believe us would only make some vain attempt to save a doomed world. And we don't know how long it would take the Shadow Minions to find the heart of this world and cover it in darkness. Plus we can't transport large masses of people to safety at once."

"So… what are we gonna do?" Chris asked, looking sad and hopeless.

"There's not much we can do, the two of us against an army of Shadow Minions would be suicidal. We're just gonna enjoy the time we have left in this world and make the most of it." Matthew said sadly. "I know it sounds cold and heartless, but there's nothing we can do to stop it without knowing where the heart of this world is. And then after that. we'll have to return to H.Q."

"I'm not leaving without Kit!" Chris stated firmly, with his arms folded. "Not after spending my entire life trying to find him."

"We won't leave him, if possible we'll take him with us." Matthew assures Chris. "Master Mickey did say that if we find him, we can bring him back with us."

"And if Kit doesn't want to come with us?"

Matthew bowed his head, his face downcast. "Then we will perish along with him."

Chris gulped, looking tensed and scared for a moment and then he looked solemn. "Yes… yes we will."

"Well, you better go to bed. First day of school tomorrow." Matthew said, obviously trying to turn this conversation away from this depressing matter.

"Okay…" Chris said awkwardly, now trying not to think about the fact that tomorrow might be the first and only day in a public school. "Good night, Dad." He turned and walked to his new room. He changed into his nightshirt, got into bed and it took awhile for him to go to sleep, as he was worried about the upcoming fate of this world, the world he was born in. Eventually he drifted into an uneasy sleep.

The next morning, Chris got up, dressed and ate a big breakfast with his Dad. He then picked up his new backpack and headed for the door.

"Where are you going, Chris? School doesn't start for another half-hour." Matthew said as he gathered up the dishes and moved towards the sink.

"I know, Dad," Chris said, pausing at the door. "I'm going out for a morning jog and then I'm gonna meet up with Kit at Higher for Hire so we can walk to school together."

"Well, now hold on." Matthew said, walking over to Chris.

"Dad, I gotta go, or I won't have time to do my morning jog." Chris whined, jogging on the spot, like he's in a hurry.

"But, you're gonna forget your lunch money," Matthew said, holding a dollar bill up and waving it.

Chris then jogged to Matthew's side and took the money. He then tried to run for it, but Matthew grabbed him into a hug and started tickling him.

Chris laughed and squirmed. " _Daaaddd_... let me go…"

Matthew did let go of him, but not before planting a kiss on top of Chris' head.

" _DADDDD_..." Chris whined, embarrassed. He pulled himself away Matthew and wiped the kiss off his head. "If you don't stop doing that, I'm gonna borrow Kit's baseball cap."

"Oh no… it has finally happened." Matthew said, pretending to be dismayed. "My little boy's becoming a man."

Chris chuckled at that. "Whatever you say, Dad. Bye!" he waved before dashing out of the hangar.

And off Chris went, jogging at a slow pace through the city towards Higher for Hire with his new backpack on his back. He knew better than to sprint through the city so soon after such a big breakfast..

Halfway there, as he was jogging past an alley gap between two buildings, Chris felt a sudden tug on his backpack and then he felt himself being yanked backward into the alley, where he found himself staring up at big scary-looking thug.

"Hey. kid," the thug said, towering ominously over Chris, with Chris backing away into the alley wall. "Maybe you didn't know it, but there's toll for passing through my territory. And it's payday."

Shocked and scared, Chris quickly scanned his surroundings until he spotted a trash can behind the thug. He then gave a confident smirk before looking up at the thug with defiance.

"Oh yeah? Well come and get it, big mouth!"

"What? Why, you little—!" the thug said angrily, drawing back a fist to punch Chris, but Chris quickly swung his arm up, causing the trash can to jump high off the ground, flipping over upside down and then falling on top of the thug, encasing his head and torso inside it with his arms pinned to his sides. "AAHH! Hey, wh-what is this?! W-who turned out the light?!"

Chris quickly picked up a nearby plank and swung it, hitting the trash can like a gong.

The thug gave a shaky, vibrated yell, before groaning and falling face-down.

"There!" Chris said, throwing the plank aside. "I've paid my dues, and now if you'll excuse me, I'll be on my way." and with that, he left the thug groaning on the alley floor. He ran from the alley and went sprinting down the street as fast as he could. "Maybe it wasn't a good idea to jog by myself in such a big city… OW!" He suddenly stopped sprinting and bent over, clutching his leg as it cramped up. "Ow… Ohhhh…." he moaned, feeling suddenly sick, his world began to spin before his eyes as he felt very nauseous. "Ohhh, maybe it was a bad idea to run from a mugger so soon after breakfast… Oh, yeah...that's right, Dad always said to wait a couple of hours after eating before running..."

He laid there, clutching his cramped leg and rubbing it while trying to keep his head still in the hopes that his nausea would pass. The cramp in his leg soon faded away, but the nausea remained. He slowly got up, but this action alone caused him to dive for the nearest trash can to throw up.

After emptying the contents of his stomach into the trash can, Chris made his way very slowly towards the docks where Higher for Hire was located, looking pale and clammy. He made it to the door just as Kit came running out, and almost collided with Chris.

"OH! Sorry, Chris, I almost ran into you!" Kit said as he skidded to a halt in front of Chris. Then he looked very concerned. "Chris, are you alright? You look pale and sicky."

"I'll be fine," Chris said weakly. "Have you got any Gatorade?"

"Gatorade, what's that?" Kit asked, looking perplex.

"Oh right, it's probably not invented yet…" Chris groaned. "Never mind, how about some Sprite?"

"I don't think so…" Kit said, looking even more concerned. "Never heard of it."

"Ginger ale?"

"Hold on, I think we do have a bottle of that, let me go get it." Kit said, he turned and went back inside, coming back out moments later with a bottle of ginger ale, which he handed to Chris.

Chris took the bottle, opened it and slowly drank from it.

"What happened, Chris?" Kit asked, leading Chris over to a nearby cargo crate and had him to sit down on top of it. "Did you get sick on your way down here?"

"Yeah… it was my fault, though." Chris said, taking another drink from the bottle, feeling a little better. "I ran too soon after a big breakfast, and got cramped up and then I got sick and threw up."

"Maybe you ought to go to bed," Kit suggested. "You can borrow my bed, C'mon, let's get you inside and into bed."

"NO!" Chris shouted, startling Kit. "No… I wanna go to school, today!"

"But Chris, you can't go if you're sick," Kit said gently but firmly. "Just go to bed and try again tomorrow."

"No, I'm going to school... Just gimme a minute, I'll be fine..." Chris said, leaning back against the wall of the building and closing his eyes. He then took another drink from the bottle. He just had to have his first day of school with his brother _today_ , because there might not be a tomorrow after today.

"But, are you sure?" Kit said with concern in his voice. "Are you sure you'll be alright going to school today?"

"Yes, Kit, I'm sure!" Chris snapped, "Now can we please go?" he said, getting slowly off the crate.

Kit looked a little shocked at Chris snapping at him, but decided not to protest anymore, as his brother was now being too stubborn to listen to him.

"Alright, we'll go to school together, but under one condition." Kit said, holding up a finger.

"What's that?" Chris asked as Kit turned his back to Chris and bent down.

"Climb onto my back, I'll carry you there." Kit said.

"But Kit…" Chris whined, blushing a little as he swayed where he stood. "I'm not a baby, I can walk there on my own…"

"Either you let me carry you, or I'll get Baloo to help me strap you to the bed." Kit said firmly, going into big brother mode. "Look at yourself, you look like something the cat dragged in and you can barely keep your balance! How do you expect to walk there like that?"

"Oh…. oh alright then!" Chris said, looking annoyed as he climbed onto Kit's back. "But you better put me down when we get within plain sight of the school."

"Only if you feel up to it," Kit said, standing up with Chris on his back, he strained a little as he carried Chris towards the school.

Chris couldn't help feeling grateful that he didn't have to walk, he laid his head on Kit's shoulder and closed his eyes, deciding to squeeze in a little nap before school…

Chris must have dozed off, because the next thing he knew, Kit was calling his name and shaking him. Chris opened his eyes and found himself sitting on the pavement with his back against the wall surrounding the school. Kit had obviously set him down by the arched entryway of the schoolyard and trying to wake him up before they went in.

"Chris, we're here," Kit said, helping Chris to his feet. "How do you feel? If you still feel sick, I can take you to the nurse's office and you can wait there for Dad to pick you up."

"No, I'm fine, Kit," Chris said as he stood steadily on his feet. "I feel better now, let's go in."

And so, the two brothers walked side-by-side towards the school and went inside together.

Since they had ten minutes left before the bell ring for the start of the first class of the day, Kit used this time to show Chris around and telling him where everything was.

"Our locker is here, the principal's office is there, the nurse's office is over there… are you sure you wouldn't want to see her? Nurse Edna is really nice." Kit said

"For the last time, Kit, I'm fine!" Chris said firmly, looking a little annoyed. "Now where's the washroom?"

"Over there," Kit said, pointing to it. He gave Chris a concerned look. "Are you feeling sick again?"

"No, I just need to wash my face." Chris said, walking over to the door that was labeled "BOYS" and went inside. A couple of minutes later, Chris came back out, his face cleaner and a little less sick-looking. "Aahh, that feels so much better," He then rejoins Kit. "So, what's our first class of the day?"

"Math." Kit said simply.

"Ugh, math class?" Chris said in dismay. "The most boring school subject at the very start of my very first day of public school…"

"What?" Kit said, sounding a little surprised. "I thought history class was boring one."

Chris shook his head. "No, history is actually pretty interesting, like a big storytime in a class format."

"Yeah, it is interesting… until you have to write a long essay about those stories…" Kit said muttered.

"But I'm already so good with numbers and it has become very boring to me." Chris said with a dismayed expression, as he and Kit entered the classroom.

"Good morning, class," said the teacher, a male weasel in suit and tie, greeted the class as they took their seats. "My name is Mr. F. Why am I introducing myself again this late in the term, you ask? Well it's because today, we are joined by a new student. Come on up here, new student." and he beckoned Chris to the front of the class

Looking a little uncomfortable with all the eyes on him now, Chris got up from his seat next to Kit and walked up to the front of class, where he faced the class and gave a little wave, looking a little nervous.

"H-hi, I'm… Chris Cloudkicker, Kit's brother." he said, gesturing to Kit. "And this is my first day in public school." Not knowing what else to say, Chris just return to his seat, looking relieved that the introduction was all over.

"Alright, class," Mr. F said, taking up the chalk and wrote a math problem on the board. "How do we solve this problem."

The problem was 13 + 13 =.

Chris was like: "...what…?" and then looking around, he was surprised and shocked at how this simple math problem seemed to have defeated whole of the class, with all other students looking stumped.

"Anyone?" Mr. F said, looking around at the class.

Seeing as no one else was volunteering to answer the problem, Chris raised his hand and said: "Put the two threes together to make a six, and then combine the two ones into a two. You should get a twenty-six."

Mr. F blinked in stunned surprise. Obviously he wasn't used to anyone answering the math problems correctly. "Uh… that's… that's correct, Chris… Now can you answer this one?" he asked, pointing with a stick at the next problem, which was 19 + 19.

Looking bored, Chris answered with one elbow on the desk, supporting his face with his hand to his cheek. "You put the nine and nine together, makes an eighteen, then carry the one over to the other two ones and make them into a three and you'll have thirty-eight."

Once again, Mr. F and the students were aghast at Chris' math skills While Chris saw these math problems as simple and easy, the other students and teacher were now seeing him as some kind of genius.

But based on Chris' answers, the other students begin to figure out the problems too. Evidently, Mr. F never taught them anything, just gave them a series of math problems and then failing them for getting it wrong, without ever teaching them how to work through the problems and solve them.

Mr. F seemed to be freaking out before their very eyes, looking extremely frustrated as he chewed on his handkerchief, and in his head, he was thinking; ' _Oh no! Not another smart one! How am I to keep failing the whole class with kids like him coming along?! Right, right, calm down, you've dealt with smart kids before, just find out what their math limits are and then go beyond that…_

"Okay class, next problem. What's five hundred plus five hundred?" Mr. F said, writing the problems on the board.

Chris raised an eyebrow, like ' _Really?'_ "A thousand." he said with his hand up, and without effort.

Mr. F snarled and broke the chalk in half out of sheer frustration. "Alright, this is obviously too easy for you. Let's try a new math. What's a hundred thousand times a hundred thousand?!" he asked, breathing heavily as if this was a war.

Chris chuckles, now the teacher was being really ridiculous, but he knew he should not say so out loud.

"A hundred thousand times a hundred thousand is…" Chris said, smiling as if he was fighting down a laugh.

' _Oh no… please answer wrong, please answer wrong!'_ Mr. F begged inside his head.

"...Ten billion." Chris answered with a smirk.

"Eeek!" Mr. F squeaked as he seemed shattered, he fell to his knees in defeat. "...M-my hardest-ever math problem….it failed me!" he cried, getting up and running from the room in pouring tears.

The whole classroom erupted with cheers and applause and Chris found himself being held up into the air by many hands while the kids chant his name: "CHRIS, CHRIS, CHRIS, CHRIS!"

Chris laughed and then said: "Alright guys, put me down, that's enough. You wanna alert the principal?"

"Too late…" said Mr. Pomeroy coldly, as he stood framed in the doorway.

At the sight of the principal, the students hastily put Chris down and returned to the seats in a flash.

Mr. Pomeroy walked into the classroom, followed by Mr. F, who appears to be having a nervous breakdown.

"Th-that's him, sir!" Mr. F said, pointing a shaky finger at Chris. "That's the troublemaker disrupting my class!"

"Cloudkicker, is that true?" Mr. Pomeroy asked, giving Chris a stern gaze.

"A...all I did was answer his math problems!" Chris protested weakly, feeling himself shrink under the principal's gaze.

"Oh really?" Mr. Pomeroy said, and then he turned to look at the board, examining all the math problems written up there. "Uh, Mr. F, the first few problems are second grade level math… and the last few are… eighth grade level, I believe… What's going on here?"

"I… uh... Well, it's not my fault! These kids are so dumb, I had to downgrade to their level." Mr. F said.

There was an almighty uproar from the rest of the class, by the sound of it, they did not take this insult to their intelligence lightly! In the midst of the rioting protests from the class, Mr. Pomeroy caught the words: "YOU NEVER TAUGHT US ANYTHING, YOU JUST LOVE TO SEE US FAIL!"

"SILENT!" Mr. Pomeroy roared, louder than all of them, and they all fell silent, though looking sulky and shooting daggers at Mr. F with their eyes. "You will all sit there quietly while I sort this out. Mr. F, come with me."

Mr. Pomeroy left the room with Mr. F in tow.

They all sat quietly for ten minutes, whispering to each other before the classroom door opened and nice-looking female bear walked in. Kit was reminded of Miss Cunningham as he looked at her, except her hair was black and tied into a bun and she wore half-moon shape glasses.

"Hello, class," she said pleasantly. "My name is Mrs. Dowell," she said as she wrote her name on the blackboard. "I will be substituting for Mr. F today."

Now everyone was Chris' best friend, as he got rid of their awful teacher and had him replaced with this nicer-looking teacher. And so he wasn't treated badly like most New Kids would have been treated. No one saw the need to pick on him or bully him.

And the rest of the first period of the day continued with Mrs. Dowell giving the class hard math problems and when the class groaned, she urged them not to be afraid of numbers and encouraged them by actually explaining how to solve the problems without giving them the answers.

"Oh wow, I'm actually learning something today!" Kit said as he wrote down his answers on his math sheet.

"Eh, better teacher, better process, I guess." Chris said, yawning a very obvious 'I'm bored' yawn.

Mrs. Dowell paused in the act of writing something on the blackboard and shot an icy cold glare over her shoulder at Chris, it was clear she heard his yawn. Chris felt the glare piercing his very core and he cringed and hastily made himself appear busy with his paper.

For the rest of the math period, Chris amused himself by drawing funny cartoons on his paper, wrote all the wrong answers on purpose before erasing everything and writing the correct answers.

The bell rang, signaling the start of second period.

"Alright class," Mrs. Dowell said, facing the class. "Math time is over. Ernie, would you please collect the papers and bring them up to my desk?"

"Yes, Ma'am," Ernie said politely, getting up and going around the classroom, collecting the papers from every desktops.

"Now, it's time for spelling!" Mrs. Dowell announced cheerfully. "When I call your name, come up to the board." she cleared her throat before calling out: "Chris Cloudkicker."

Chris gulped as he slowly got out of his seat and approached the board with Mrs. Dowell standing there with her arms crossed, glaring at Chris over her half-moon glasses. Her body language read: ' _You're dead meat!'_

"Alright, Chris, your first word is Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious." Mrs. Dowell said in a sugar-sweet voice.

Chris did a double-take and stared at Mrs. Dowell in stunned disbelief. "Come again?"

"Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, dear," she repeated, her face cracking into an evil grin.

"Uh…" Chris said, for the first time that day, he was stumped. "Super..." he said, writing the letters S-U-P-E-R and then paused, trying to think how the rest of the word was spelled."calif.." but he misspelled that part with "T-A-L-I-C" and when he was done spelling the word, Mrs. Dowell shook her head.

"No, Chris, that's wrong. Try again."

Chris tried and tried, getting parts of the word wrong every time. At last, a worn-out and exhausted-looking Chris finally got it right.

"Good job, Chris! Your next word is…"

Chris groaned. "Another one? Ooh, my aching hand…" he whined, rubbing his his sore hand.

"Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis." Mrs. Dowell said with a grin.

Chris whimpered as he picked up the chalk again and begin to shakily write the letters. Like last time, the first dozen tries were failures before he finally got it right!

"Good, now, your final word is…"

Overwhelmed. Chris' eyes rolled upward into as he fell face down on the floor. He had fainted.

Moments later, Chris came to, waking up to find Kit holding him up and gently patting him on the face. "Chris? Chris, are you okay?"

"Huh…? Kit…?" Chris said, feeling disorientated. He then shook his head to shake it off. "I mean, yeah. I'm fine." he said, allowing Kit to take him by the arm and help him to his feet. It was then that he noticed that someone else was taking his other arm to help him up too. He turned his head to look at the person and froze, his eyes widened and bulged out of his head and his heart shot upward into his throat.

The other person helping him up was a girl, a brown bearess with red hair, which she wore in pigtails. She was wearing a blue dress and a white apron. She might seemed like a simple girl to others, but in Chris' eyes, she was stunningly beautiful. He was so taken by her beauty, that when he tried to thank her, all he could managed was a line of incoherent words. Basically sounding like an idiot.

"Thank you for getting rid of that awful teacher, he was mean, and maybe now my grades will improve." she said, and then kissed Chris on the cheek. Chris had this big, dazed smile on his face, his face turning red like a rapidly rising thermometer, and once his whole face turned red, steam billowed out of his ears. The girl seemed quite oblivious to all of this and returned to her seat.

As she walked away, Chris fell down again, despite Kit supporting him.

"Chris, are you okay? Snap out of it!" Kit said, pulling Chris to his feet again. Chris seemed a little punch-drunk as he swayed against Kit's helping arm, looking dreamily towards the red pigtailed girl. Kit supported Chris's weight on his arm, looking concerned. "Chris…?"

"Who is that girl, Kit?" Chris asked in a dreamy voice, gazing towards the girl with dreamy eyes, pink heart shaped bubbles floating around his head.

"Huh?" Kit looked in the direction Chris was staring in and saw the girl. "Uh-oh, I think Cupid's bullet hit your tail section, Chris…" he said as he steered Chris back to his seat.

"But who is she?" Chris asked again as Kit pushed him into his seat.

"Huh? Oh, her name is Wendy," Kit said, retaking his own seat next to Chris.

"Wendy…." Chris repeated, propping his face with his hands, his elbows on the desktop, still looking dreamy and lovestruck. "Kit, I think I'm in love…"

Kit pulled a skeptical expression. "Chris, you've only just met her. And a moment ago, you didn't even know her name! I think it's a bit too soon to come to that conclusion… Seriously, Cupid must've hit your rear end hard!"

For the rest of the spelling class, Chris just sat in his seat, daydreaming of himself and Wendy running through a field of flowers towards each other and then skip hopping through the field, holding hands.

"Chris….CHRIS!" Kit yelled, shaking Chris out of his daydream.

"Wh...What?" Chris said, looking around and saw that the rest of the class was leaving the classroom. "Where're they all going?"

Kit chuckled as he took hold of Chris' wrist and pulled him out of his seat. "C'mon, it's time for P.E."

Chris got excited about that. "Alright! I love P.E.! Let's go." he got up from his seat and followed Kit from the class to the gym.

In the gym, the students were all dressed in their P.E. clothes. For the boys, the clothes were a pair of blue shorts with a white t-shirt. Same for the girls, except it was a skirt instead of shorts.

"Alright, class!" roared the coach, a large buffed dog in a tank top, he spoke in a loud, rough voice. "Today, I'm going to teach you wimps how to...DODGE!" he yelled, throwing a dodgeball right at Ernie, who cried out as he was knocked off his feet by the force of the ball. "YOU!" he roared at Ernie, as the poor boy struggled to his feet. "You're the first team captain! And you!" he threw the ball at Kit's head, but Kit managed to duck just in time. He felt the ball graze his hair and blew his cap off. "Cloudkicker, you're the second captain. Alright you two, pick your team!"

"I want Chris." Kit said without hesitation, not wanting his brother to be treated as the typical New Kid and get picked last. He then bent down and picked his cap up from the floor, brushed off the dust from his cap before putting it back on.

"Aw, man. _I_ wanted Chris!" Ernie complained, much to Kit's surprise. "Now my team's gonna lose…"

Kit smiled. "Alright, Ernie, you can have Chris."

"Wh-what? Y-you mean it?" Ernie said in surprise.

"Yeah, having two Cloudkickers on one team would be overpowering, gotta make us even." Kit said with a smile.

"Alright, then I'll take Chris!" Ernie said, grabbing Chris' arm and pulling him to his side.

Chris grinned at Kit as he stood next to Ernie, looking forward to playing against his brother.

Kit and Ernie then took turns picking team members, dividing the entire class into two teams. Chris was a little disheartened when Kit picked Wendy for his team. Now he wished he was on Kit's team.

"Alright, on your mark, get set…." the coach said, readying his whistle. "And beat the pants off each other!" he yelled, blowing his whistle! Almost instantly, he was hit in the face with three stray balls at once, knocking him out cold!

And thus, the ball war began, balls went flying everywhere with people either dodging or getting the wind knocked out of them as the ball hit them!

Chris and Kit were both in their element, able to use their acrobatic skills to dodge balls perfectly and hit their opponents. The first ball Kit threw hit Ernie right in the face! Chris grabbed a ball from midair and throw it right back at the rabbit who threw it, knocking him out of the game

As both teams dwindled in numbers, the more clearly Chris could see Wendy.

Grabbing another ball, Chris held up the ball, preparing to strike out another of Kit's teammates when suddenly he realized it was Wendy.

' _What am I doing? I don't wanna hit her!'_ Chris thought inside his head

He froze in mid-attack and stared at her as a song begin to play inside his head.

 _Love lift us up where we belong  
Where the eagles cry  
On a mountain high  
Love lift us up where we belong  
Far from the world below  
Up where the clear winds blow_

While the song played inside his head, he envisioned a beautiful background behind Wendy, highlighting her beauty.

"Wendy…no, I can't hit her!" he said, clearly undergoing some painful internal struggle. All of a sudden, the spell was broken as a ball came out of nowhere and hit Chris in the face, causing him to fall onto his back.

Chris came to, still laying on his back, looking up at his fellow teammates standing in a circle around him, looking down at him with angry faces. He slowly got to his feet.

"Guys, what's up? Who won?"

"They did," one of them spat, shoving Chris in the chest. "We could have won, if you hadn't got hit...BY A GIRL!" he shoved Chris harder this time, causing him to fall down onto his rear.

"Yeah, and without you, we stood no chance against Kit!" another kid spat

"Wha-what?" Chris stammered. "But guys, it's just a g-game, we'll g-get 'em next time!"

The teammates continued to glare down at him as if he had lost them the superbowl. Until he let out a sob, unable to take it anymore and ran from the gym.

"CHRIS!" Kit yelled after him.

"Did you see how easily he cried?" one of Chris' teammates sneered.

"Yeah, what a baby!" laughed the other. "OW!" he cried as Wendy kicked him in the leg.

"You insensitive jerk!" she growled. "He is new here! He's sweet and smart, and you made him cry! When he gets back, you are going to apologize to him, or so help me, I will kick you all in the leg so hard, that your grandchildren will inherit your pain from my kick! Do I make myself CLEAR?!"

"Yes, Wendy..." All the boys said, looking frightened of her and backed away from her.

Kit gave Wendy a grateful smile and then he gave Chris' so-called teammates a venomous look, before running after Chris.

"Chris, wait up!" Kit yelled as he chased Chris through the school. Kit may be fast, but Chris was just as fast!

"Go away!" Chris sobbed as he ran, "I should've never came to school!"

"Chris, stop!" Kit yelled.

But Chris didn't stop, he ran all the way down the hall and outside, running down the street, away from the school.

Kit took out his airfoil and threw it at Chris' legs, causing him to fall flat on his face! Chris laid crying on the ground as Kit caught up with him.

"Chris, I'm sorry. But you wouldn't stop." Kit said remorsefully, as he helped Chris up and hugged him tightly.

Chris hugged Kit as well and sobbed into his shoulder. "They hate me! I lost them the game!"

"No, Chris…." Kit said soothingly, gently stroking the back of Chris' head. "They don't hate you. They're just sore losers and they just took it out on you. It's not because they hate you."

Chris backed away from Kit and sniffed. "I… still lost them the game, they wanted to win..."

Kit shrugged and said: "I'm gonna quote Baloo and say: Ya win some, ya lose some. You can't win and lose all the time."

Chris took a moment to regain his composure. "I'm sorry I got all emotional. I… never had that many people mad at me before. It's all too new and too scary…"

Kit embraced Chris into a soothing hug. "It's okay, Chris. It's just a P.E. game, They'll get over it. They can't stay mad at you. Now c'mon, let's go back to the school before Mr. Pomeroy gives us both detention."

Kit held Chris' hand and took the first step towards the school, when an sudden earthquake occured! The sky turned black and began storming! The ground split open between their feet and they had to jump to one side to avoid falling into the gap.

"AAHH! An earthquake?! Here?! In Cape Suzette?!" Kit cried in total shock.

"No…. this is not natural! The world is ending!" Chris screamed, and he yelped and screamed louder when lightning flashed across the sky, followed by thunder.

"WH-WHAT?"! Kit screamed in horror.

Out from the cracks in the ground, the Shadow Minions appeared! They took one look at Kit and Chris, and launched themselves at the two cubs to attack. Kit and Chris gripped each other hard with their eyes shut tight, and then they suddenly hear it—the humming sound of the D-blade swinging around.

They looked up and saw Matthew defending them, swiping left and right at the Shadow Minions with his D-blade, destroying them one at a time.

"DAD!" they cried in relief, happy that they were being saved by their Dad.

Matthew took out a dozen of the Shadow Minions before running at Kit and Chris, snatching them up under his arms and running towards dock as fast as he could.

At the dock, Matthew skidded to a halt in front of Baloo, who was snoring on top of the cargo crates.

"Baloo, get up!" Matthew yelled, kicking Baloo off the crates.

"Oof! Hey, what's the big idea?" Baloo grumbled as he got up from the dock's floor.

"No time, Baloo! Where's Wildcat? Where's Rebecca?" Matthew demanded urgently.

"Where's the fire, ace?" Baloo asked. "Rebecca went to see Molly's school play, and Wildcat's in town, buying parts for the _Duck_."

A pained grimace crossed Matthew face, as if he has stabbed with an icy knife. "Hurry, come with me, Baloo! There's not a lot of time left!" he yelled even more urgently.

Matthew turned and began to run with the cubs still under his arms. Baloo ran after them, panting most of the way. They ran all the across town to Matthew's hangar. They ran into the hangar and boarded the _McQueen._ Matthew dropped the boys onto the floor, jumped into the pilot seat and quickly started the engines.

"Matthew, what's going on? What's with the earthquakes and the thunderstorm?" Baloo asked as he sat down in the co-pilot seat.

"No time, Baloo! Grab Kit and Chis and hold on to them!" Matthew yelled as the plane rolled out of the hangar, gathering speed.

Baloo picked Kit and Chris up from the floor and held them close to his chest.

Matthew shut his eyes tight against the tears that started pouring from his eyes, as he thought of all the people he was leaving behind to be taken by the darkness. He reached up and slammed the big red button overhead.

At warp speed, the _McQueen_ shot up into the sky and disappeared among the stars.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **I hope you enjoyed this episode! More episodes are coming!**

 **Special thanks to my editor, Cyclone Blaze, for helping me with the editing process of this episode to make it as good as it can be.**

 **Make sure to stay tuned for the next episode. Please give me a review, I'd love to see your thoughts on this episode.**


	9. Episode Nine - The D-Star

**Disclaimer: I do not own TaleSpin or any of the Disney Afternoon classics.**

* * *

 **Episode Nine**

 **The D-Star**

* * *

The McQueen was flying among the stars, leaving behind a long trail white light behind, looking like a lightning bolt traveling through space.

Inside the cockpit, Matthew was visibly trying to hold himself together, his hands were shaking on the control yoke, his teeth gritted, looking furious and miserable at the same time.

Tears began to leak out of his eyes as he thought back to Rebecca, Molly, Wildcat, Louie and all of his friends he'd known since childhood.

 _'Guys…'_ he thought inside of his head. _'I'm... I'm so sorry… I… I couldn't save you! Please, forgive me_.' Then he burst into tears and slammed his fist on the flight console.

Next to him, Baloo sat, cradling the Cloudkicker cubs, who were still in their P.E. clothes, in his arms. He looked baffled and confused

"Wh-where…? Where are we? Where are we headin'?" Baloo asked, looking all around at the countless stars zooming past them. "What's going on?"

Matthew tried to speak, but he couldn't overcome the large lump in his throat and all that came out was a whimper.

Chris decided to help his Dad out, as he needed to focus on flying through space while avoiding asteroids and Shadow Minion ships.

"We're in the interspace between worlds," he said.

Suddenly, the whole plane shook violently as a shockwave reached them from the direction where they just came from. Everybody cried out and Baloo held on to the cubs tightly as he braced himself.

When it past, Baloo sat up straight and asked: "Wh-what was that?"

"O-o-our world…is gone…." Chris said in a shocked voice, looking stunned.

There was a pause, during which it slowly dawn on Baloo and Kit what Chris meant.

"Wh-what? What do you mean?" Kit asked, looking devastated. "B-but... what about Miss Cunningham, Molly, Wildcat, Louie and…?"

Chris burst into tears and cried out: "GONE!" he then buried his face in Baloo's shirt and his next words came out a little muffled. "THEY'RE ALL GONE! TAKEN BY THE DARKNESS!"

"No…." Kit said in a stunned voice, feeling his world slowing down and spinning. "No… NOOOO…! THEY CAN'T BE GONE! ...YOU!" he cried, he then pointed a finger at Matthew. 'WHY DIDN'T YOU SAVE THEM?!"

"...I…" Matthew whimpered, not knowing what to say. "I...I tried…" he said weakly.

"NO, YOU DIDN'T! YOU DIDN'T TRY TO SAVE THEM! YOU JUST GRABBED US AND LEFT EVERYBODY ELSE TO… TO…." Kit could not bring himself to say it, he burst into tears and jumped down from Baloo's lap, screaming: "I HATE YOU!" as he ran into the cargo hold, slamming the door behind him.

Matthew gasped and started breathing heavily, as if Kit's words had stabbed him in the heart like a real knife.

"Oh no! Dad, don't lose focus now!" Chris yelled as Matthew sat there, looking completely broken and devastated.

Baloo stood up and made to go into the cargo hold to comfort Kit.

"Baloo, stay here! You need to take over!" Chris said, jumping over to Matthew's side and grabbing the control yoke, holding the plane steady as it flew through the dark depths of space.

"But... I gotta go talk to Kit," Baloo said, sounding like he didn't know what else to do.

"I'll talk to him!" Chris said. "Look, Dad is in shock and overwhelmed right now. You need to take over for him."

"No…" Matthew said unexpectedly, looking suddenly determined. "I should talk to him. Here, take the stick, Baloo." Matthew stood up and stepped aside, gesturing for Baloo to take the pilot seat.

"I don't know, Matt… Kit's madder than a hornet at you right now…" Baloo said, uncertainly.

"I'm well aware," Matthew said shortly. "Even so, I should be the one to talk to him."

"Well, if you're sure…" Baloo said, shrugging before moving to sit down in the pilot seat and taking the control yoke as Matthew opened the door to the cargo hold and stepped inside, closing the door behind him.

"Kit…?" Matthew said as he spotted Kit laying on his belly on the bottom bunk bed, crying into the pillow. It broke Matthew's heart to see Kit crying like that. He approached the bed slowly and sat down at the foot of it.

"Go away, Dad!" Kit cried into the pillow.

"H...how did you know it was me?" Matthew asked, since Kit never looked up to see who it was.

"You're too heavy to be Chris, and you're too light to be Baloo," Kit said in a muffled voice through the pillow.

"Oh…" Matthew said, amazed at Kit's deduction skills, even as he mourned the loss of his family, friends, his whole world. "Kit, I'm... I'm sorry I couldn't save more people back there. You have every right to be mad at me. I'm mad at myself!"

Kit slowly lifted his face away from the pillow and looked over at Matthew. "...what?"

"I wanted to save the whole world, not just you and your friends and family. I...wanted…to save….EVERYBODY!" he yelled in self-loathing, punching the floor with his fist. "But… I couldn't. It was a race against time, Kit. I had to save what I could and get out of there, or none of us would be here right now."

"But you could've warned everybody!" Kit said accusingly.

"Chris and I thought of doing that, but… remembering how all of Noah's warnings went unheeded, I thought people would do the same to us." Matthew said sadly.

"...Noah? You mean from one of the old stories, Noah's Ark?" Kit asked as a look of realization crossed his face.

"Yeah, he was mocked and ridiculed for saying the world was going to be destroyed with a worldwide flood." Matthew said. "I expected a similar reaction to any warnings Chris and I could issue."

"Oh..." Kit said, looking sad. "Yeah. If you've told me yesterday that the world was ending the next day, I'm...not sure I would've believed you."

"Yeah, and as I told Chris, those that would believe us would've made a vain attempt to save a doomed world." Matthew said miseribly. "Even with all the powers at the Dedis' disposal, we cannot transport large masses of people at once. My hands were tied knowing all of that."

Matthew sat there with his head down, hating himself for not being able to save more people.

Kit observed him for a moment and saw how much Matthew was hurting over his inability to do more, to save more people. He slowly moved closer to Matthew and hugged him around the neck.

"I'm sorry, Dad," Kit said, whimpering a little bit from his grief of losing so many of his friends and family. "I'm so sorry. I've said things I should never have said. I don't hate you." he then let out a sob and buried his face on Matthew's shoulder.

Matthew wrapped his arms around Kit and hugged him tightly, stroking the back of Kit's head. "Thank you, Kit. I love you, son."

"Love you too, Dad." Kit said in a muffled voice, his face pressed to Matthew's chest.

For a couple of minutes, they sat there, crying for the loss of their world while holding each other.

Matthew and Kit re-entered the cockpit, Baloo looked back at them from the pilot seat.

"Are ya alright, Lil' Britches?" Baloo asked with concern in his voice.

"Yeah, I'm alright, Papa Bear." Kit said with a sad little smile.

Matthew approached the pilot seat. "I'll take the stick from here, Baloo."

"Oh, sure, Matt." Baloo said as he stood up and sat back down in the co-pilot seat. Matthew sat down in the pilot seat as Kit and Chris climbed up into Baloo's lap and sat down.

Matthew pressed a few buttons on the console and outside the plane, the tips of the pontoons opened up to reveal the point of a laser gun. Matthew then fired the guns and two yellow beems shot out, hit each other and created a wormhole in front of them.

"What's that?" Kit asked, looking amazed.

"A shortcut home," Matthew said simply, as he flew the plane right into the wormhole. Now that they were in the wormhole, they seems to be going faster than the speed of light. It was like going through a brightly lit tunnel at extremely high speed.

At last, they reached end of the tunnel and came out in a completely different galaxy

It took a moment for Kit and Baloo's eyes to adjust, and when they did, they gasped.

Directly in front of them was what looked like three moons glued together to look like a mouse's head.

"Wh-what's that?" Kit asked in awe of this moon. "It's huge!"

"That's the D-Star. Home of the Dedis." Matthew said with a smile.

As they got close to the D-Star, a female voice came on the radio. "Welcome to the D-Star, UFO. Please identify yourself, or I'll have to blast you into oblivion."

Matthew picked up the mic and spoke into it. "Hold your fire, Gadget. It's me."

"Matthew? Oh my gosh! Welcome home!" Gadget said excitedly. "Is Chris there with you?"

Matthew held the mic to Chris and he spoke into it.

"Yeah. I'm here, Gadget. And guess what! My brother is here with us too!"

"Oh golly! I can't wait to meet him! Come right in!" Gadget said and then the radio went silent.

A pair of panels on the surface of the D-Star split open, revealing the entrance to the D-Star and they flew right in.

Once they were inside, they were greeted with the sight of a beautiful world, very similar to Earth. It was like a smaller Earth was encased in a planet-sized metal shell. Looking around, Kit and Baloo saw that the inner shell was sky blue, obviously to imitate Earth's blue sky.

Matthew descended the plane down lower to the ground. A suburban neighborhood dominated by a gigantic mall came into view. A runway and series of hangars were located on the other side of the neighborhood at the opposite side from the mall.

"Wow…" Kit said in awe as he looked around at the area. "This is where you guys live?"

"Yeah," Chris said happily, he then gave a long sniff at the air and then sighed pleasurably. "Ahh, home sweet home."

Matthew, Kit and Baloo glared at him, clearly considering his words insensitive and offensive, since they have just lost their home world. Chris felt the intensity of their glares aimed at him.

Chris shrank back and gave them an apologetic look, then he bowed his head in shame. "...Sorry…"

Since Chris apologized, they all decided to drop it and ignore Chris' comment.

Matthew flew the plane towards the hangar area and picked up the mic. "McQueen to D-Tower, come in."

"Gwarsh… D-Tower to McQueen. Reading ya loud an' clear, ah-yuk!"

"Hey, Goofy. How are ya doing?" Matthew said with a fond smile. "Requesting clearance for landing."

"Sorry, Mattsy. You're goin' too fast and flyin' too low." Goofy said. "Turn around and adjust yer speed an' altitude.

"Ten-four." Matthew said as he turned around and did as Goofy instructed. "McQueen to D-Tower. Re-submitting request for clearance for landing."

"All clear." Goofy said. "Request granted, ah-yuk!"

"Thanks, Goof." Matthew said, before putting away the mic and focused on the landing. The McQueen touched down on the runway, rolling down the runway in decreasing speed. Then, Matthew drove the plane towards the hangar area. Once he got close to the hangar with the number "20" above the doors, Matthew turned the plane around and then pressed a button on the console and the doors slid opened, then Matthew backed into the hangar before setting off the engines.

The loading bay door at the back of the plane opened up and all of them exited the plane.

"Okay, Chris and I live in this hanger. Our living space is upstairs, but try to stay close to me." Matthew said. "We have… electronics and appliances that may seem weird, even alien to you. And I don't want you two setting things off and being scared out of your skin."

"Dad, where's my phone?" Chris asked. "I wanna text my friends and let them know I'm back."

"What?" Matthew said distractedly.

"My phone. You know; my little device that I used to call people, text people, play games on, watch DTube…"

"Ohh…!" Matthew said, grimacing with frustration at himself. "I'm sorry, Chris. I left our phones in the couch...in our hangar…in Cape Suzette….which is now space dust…."

'YOU LEFT MY PHONE BEHIND?!" Chris cried, sounding very upset.

Baloo and Kit were watching this exchange with bemused expressions. Baloo bent down and whispered in Kit's ear. "Are ya following any of this? What's the big deal about phones?"

"I have no idea…" Kit said. "He listed more things than just talking, though."

"...We were short on time, and I didn't exactly have time to do a checklist of things to bring home with us." Matthew yelled, which ended their argument, though Chris still appeared a little sulky about it. Matthew then turned to Kit and Baloo and said: "Sorry about that. Let me give you a little tour at our humble home. Stay close to me and do NOT touch anything!"

"Okay, okay. Keep your fur on, ace." Baloo said as he and Kit followed Matthew and Chris upstairs to a waking nightmare that is a twenty-first century household.

"WHOA!" Kit cried, stopping dead on the landing, causing Baloo to bump into him and then he stared around, looking astonished. For a moment, they stood unmoving on the landing, staring around like a couple of deers in a headlight, their mouths hanging wide open.

They were overwhelmed and awestruck by their surrounding. The kitchen appliances that they knew of at home, suddenly seemed ancient compared to what Matthew and Chris have! There was a stainless double door refrigerator with the console on the outside of the door, for ice and water that would put the old icebox to shame! And the cooking stove was different. Instead of metal wood stove, there was a black countertop electric stove! Also there was a stainless silver oven that was high off the floor and fitted nicely into the wall.

"Come on in, you two." Matthew said encouragingly. "Come on, don't be shy. I know it's lot to take in, but nothing here will bite you. Just stay close to me and you'll be fine."

Despite Matthew's encouragement, Baloo and Kit moved very slowly into the room and looked around, as if they thought there were tons of explosives in the room.

"C'mon, guys. Have a seat." Chris said, gesturing to the the bar that stood in the middle of the floor opposite the stove.

"Okay…" Kit said, walking slowly to one of the stools and very carefully sitting down on one of them. Then he looked surprised to see that the kitchen sink was in the center of the bar.

"So…" Chris said, bending over and taking two glasses out of the dishwasher. "Can I get you some iced water?"

"Yeah...sure…" Kit said, looking all around as Baloo sat down next to him.

Chris went over to the refrigerator, held one glass under the console in the door. It made a lot of racket as it spat out ice into the glass.

Kit and Baloo jumped at the noise, clearly startled.

"DUCK!" they cried as they dived to the floor with their hands over their heads.

"Calm down, you two. That's just the ice machine." Matthew said, biting his lips in an effort not to laugh.

Chris had much less success at holding back his laughter, and he was laughing so hard, that he doubled over, holding his ribs. The glass was left sitting under the console, waiting for water to start pouring in.

Matthew tried giving Chris "the Look", and that did shut Chris up for a moment, before he was overcome with a new wave of laugher. Then, like a contagious germ, Matthew started laughing. And once he started, he couldn't stop.

Kit and Baloo peered over the bar and looked around, checking to see if the place was still standing.

Once they were sure that all was right with the world, they sighed with relief. And Baloo collapsed upon his stool, which surprisingly didn't break under his weight.

"WHOO! Nearly gave me a heart attack!" he gasped. "I dunno how much more of this I can take!"

"I know, I know. It's a lot to take in." Matthew said, still laughing. He took a moment to compose himself and then he said: "Okay, there is nothing to worry about. The ice machine is loud, I know. It's supposed to be. That's completely normal."

"O-okay…" Kit said, looking a little timid as he retook his seat.

When Chris finally got all the laughs out of his system, he returned to his task of making glasses of iced water for Kit and Baloo. He took the glass that was sitting in the door and pressed it against the water pane, and water shot down into the glass, filling it up. He then set the glass on the bar in front of Kit. As he picked up the second glass and held it to the ice panel.

Kit and Baloo flinched a little bit at the loud noise the ice machine made, but this time, they remained in their seat.

Chris finished making a second glass of water and set it down in front of Baloo.

Kit picked up his glass, said: "Thanks," and taking a drink while allowing his eyes to wander, taking in all the surrounding modern technology in the kitchen.

"What's that?" he asked, pointing at the silver and black microwave in its place next to the cabinet.

"That's a microwave." Matthew replied. "You put cold food in there and heat it up. You can also cook with it and pop popcorn with it, too."

"Wow, that's neat! Baloo would love to learn to use that." Kit said, looking over at Baloo and chuckling.

"Guilty as charged." Baloo chuckled. "I could've used one of those things when my pizza got cold."

They all shared a chuckle at that, before Kit pointed to the toaster that sat on the counter below the microwave. "What's that?"

"That's the toaster," Matthew said. "it toasts your bread to make toast, it also toasts Chris' Toaster Strudel."

"What are Toaster Strudel?" Kit asked.

Chris looked shocked at Kit not knowing what Toaster Strudel were. "Whaaat?! You don't know what Toaster Strudel are?" when Kit shook his head, he went on: "They're delicious fruity breakfast tarts. Though my favorite Toaster Strudel is the chocolate flavor. And you can use the toaster to heat up some frozen waffles."

"Wow, you guys have so many ways to cook in this world." Kit said, looking amazed.

"Yeah, If I didn't know better, I'd think I'd died and went ta heaven!" Baloo said, licking his lips.

"What's that?" Kit asked, pointing at the toaster oven.

"That's the toaster oven," Chris said. "It toasts stuff that doesn't fit in the toaster."

Kit looked around at every corner of the kitchen, taking in every detail. "I've never seen a kitchen as nice as this one. This is even nicer than Miss Cu—" he stopped, looking suddenly sad. There was silence, everybody bowing their heads in grief. "It's… it's hard to believe everyone's gone…." then he started to cry.

Chris went to Kit's side, took hold of Kit's arm and helped him down from his stool. He then hugged Kit and Kit held on to Chris, sobbing into his brother's shoulder. Chris patted Kit's back as he began to lead Kit through the living room towards his bedroom

Inside Chris' bedroom, there was a triple bunk bed on one side of the room, and on other side, there was a regular bunk bed.

Chris led Kit over to the regular bunk bed. "You can have the bottom bunk, the top bunk's mine anyway."

Kit threw himself onto the bed and began to cry into the pillow. Chris left the room and closed the door behind him, giving Kit some privacy to grieve for his surrogate family and friends he left behind.

After about ten minutes, the door opened and Baloo walked in to find Kit still sobbing into the pillow.

"Kit?" Baloo said, walking over to the bed.

"I miss them, Baloo. I'd do anything to have them back…" Kit said with tears streaming down his face.

Baloo sat down on the bed next to Kit, lifted Kit up and hugged him. "I know, Lil Britches. I know.." he said, soothingly, stroking the back of Kit's head.

"Where's Dad and Chris?" Kit asked after a moment, noticing that it was quiet outside the room.

"They had to go to the… mall. I think they called it." Baloo said "Something about needing new phones and pads."

AT THE MALL

"Thank you, Dad." Chris said happily as he and his Dad stood outside the phone store. He was checking his social media messages and text messages on his new blue smartphone. "Can we get Kit the green one?"

"No." Matthew said, putting his new red smartphone into his pocket. "We'll let him buy his own if he wants one. I don't want to buy him something that he's just gonna hate. Best let him pick out his own phone. Now, I gotta get back home. We can't leave Baloo and Kit alone for long. Here." he handed Chris a wad of cash. "Go buy that iPad or tablet, or whatever that thing is. And be home for supper."

"Thanks, Dad. See ya later!" Chris said as they went their separate ways.

Walking towards the electronic store, Chris was going through the apps on his new phone.

"Aw man, no GeekCommunicator... " Chris sighed. "Guess I'll have to pay Geekdom a visit…"

He went into the electronic store and bought himself a tablet, because it was cheaper and he wanted to have a little money left over for food and drink. After he left the electronic store, he went to the food court to buy a burger and fries as carry out.

He then left the mall and walked towards a building with a cellphone tower on top of it. He walked around to the back of the building. There, he stood in front of a blank wall next to the dumpster.

He pressed a certain spot on the side of the dumpster and a secret panel opened up to reveal something like a calculator, with which Chris typed in a code.

"Access granted. Welcome to the World of Geekdom." said a female-sounding robot voice. The dumpster slid aside to reveal a flight of stairs leading down underground.

As Chris climbed down the stairs, the dumpster slid back into place, closing the door behind Chris. At the bottom of the stairs, Chris was in a place that looked very much like someone's dark basement. The only light came from the dual computer monitors at the end of the room. A chair with its' back to him was in front of the monitors.

"Geekdom, I got you a snack." Chris announced, waving the carryout bag around.

The chair spun around to reveal that Geekdom was none other than P.J. Pete.

"CHRIS!" P.J. cried joyfully, jumping out of his chair and running at Chris, his arms spread wide.

"Uh-oh…" Chris muttered before he was engulfed in a big bear hug by P.J., who lifted him off his feet. Chris felt like all the breath was squeezed out of him as he gasped: "Good to see you too, P.J….Now, could ya please put me down…?"

"Hey, how are ya doing, man?" P.J. said, giving Chris a playful nuggie. "What happened? I lost contact with you for days. I was starting to get worried." he said as he held Chris at arm's length before putting him down.

Chris took a moment to catch his breath and straighten his now-wrinkled sweatshirt.

"I was in Bedrock the last few days," Chris said, using the codeword for a world without internet. "And then that world ended up being taken by the darkness, and in our haste to get away, we left my phone behind."

P.J. winced and cringed at the codeword. A world without internet was a waking nightmare for him.

"Oh man, that's rough." P.J. said sympathetically. "But, did you find… you know... your brother?"

Chris suddenly smiled enthusiastically. "YES, yes I did! As a matter of fact, he's here, in the D-Star."

"Aw man! That's awesome!" P.J. exclaimed, he was happy for Chris, as he knew what finding his lost brother meant to him. He then took the carryout bag from Chris with a word of thanks, went back to his chair and sat down, facing Chris. "I can't wait to meet him. What's he like?" he asked, taking a bite out of the cheeseburger Chris bought him.

"Kit is… a little hard to describe…." Chris muttered. "He's awesome, yeah. Strong, brave and kind… but…he's also mysterious. He doesn't talk about himself much."

"Street kids don't often open up completely. Even when they trust you, they don't often tell you everything." P.J. said wisely.

"Well, I… hold on, back up! How did you know he was a street kid?" Chris asked.

For an answer, P.J. move aside to reveal his monitors and Chris saw that he'd been researching Kit.

"Records of Kit are very hard to find, almost impossible," P.J. explained. "But from what I've gathered, he's been on the streets for part of his life before settling in Cape Suzette. Funny how he was living in the city that Dewey wanted to visit, huh?'"

"Yeah…" Chris said awkwardly, feeling sad that the city is no more. "... Well anyway, I got a new phone and I need you to install GeekCommunicator on it." he said, handing P.J. his phone.

"I don't use GeekCommunicator anymore," P.J. said, taking the phone and plugging it into his computer via USB cable. "I upgraded it to a more-secured server, so you're going to need a brand new app for it. I thought GeekCoummunicator was a bit of a mouthful, so I renamed it the GeekCom." He quickly installed the GeekCom on Chris' phone and then handed it back to him.

"GeekCom," Chris muttered as he took his phone back. "That sounds cool! Has anyone else upgraded their app?"

"Yeah, Nerderator has a copy of the install program on his tablet. He's been going around, upgrading people's apps for them."

"That's cool of him," Chris said with a smile. "Well, I gotta get back home for supper and see if Kit is alright."

"Okay, man." P.J. said. "But uh, what's wrong with him."

"Nothing is wrong with him, he's just grieving the loss of his friends and family from our home world."

"Yeah, that's understanda—wait, what?!" P.J. said, his eyes widened in horror. "OUR home world was taken by the darkness?!"

"Wait... your family is also from my world?" Chris asked in surprise. "I thought the D-Star was made up of people from different worlds."

"Well, a lot of 'em come from the same world too. Duckburg, St. Canard, Spoonerville and Cape Suzette are all part of the same world, they're just far from each other."

"But.. how can we be in the same world, and be from different eras?" Chris asked in a stunned voice. "I'm from the nineteen-thirties and you've once said you and Max are from the nineties."

"We are from different eras of the same world," P.J. said. "When Master Mickey was young, he foolishly took his Master Yen Sid's time traveling device and traveled to so many different points in time. He almost torn the universe to breaking point, and as a result of his hopping through time, he unintentionally created so many different worlds and some of these worlds have sections of the planet in a different era from the rest of the world."

"But...that's impossible!" Chris exclaimed. "Dad and I have been all over the world, and never once did I see a place that was in a entirely different era."

"That's because you need to go through the Bermuda Triangle in order to go into the other eras of the same world." P.J. explained. "Why do you think people, planes and ships disappeared in that area?"

"You...you mean that instead of actually disappearing, they go through it and come out in a different era?" Chris said amazed.

"You got it," P.J. said, nodding. "The Triangle phenomenon is part of the result of Master Mickey's time traveling adventures."

"But I thought it was called the Bermuda Trapezoid."

"It has many names, and there was more than one Triangle in our world. There are four in total: The North, South, East and West Triangles. It's easy to confuse them with other names when there's four of them."

"Ooh, my head hurts…" Chris said, looking overwhelmed with the information.

"Well, it doesn't matter anymore," P.J. said sadly. "Once the Shadow Minions take a world, they also take all the eras of that world."

"Yeah…" Chris said with his face downcast as he thought of how he would never see Wendy again. And he never even properly introduced himself to her. He felt he might cry, but he didn't want to do so in front of his friend, so he made his excuse. "Well, I gotta get back home. Dad said to be home for supper, bye."

He turned his back on P.J. and ran from the secret basement. He ran to a park, where he sat under a tree. He wrapped his arms around his legs and began to cry into his knees.

"Chris?" said a voice after a few minutes.

Chris looked up and saw Scrooge McDuck looking at him with concern from the sidewalk, obviously in the middle of his evening walk.

"Chris, m'boy. What's wrong?" Scrooge asked, walking over to him.

"Oh, hi, Uncle Scrooge." Chris sobbed, trying unsuccessfully to hide his tears.

Scrooge sat down next to Chris and put an arm around him. "What troubles you, lad? Tell Uncle Scrooge all about it."

"Oh, Uncle Scrooge…" Chris sniffed. "We went back to our home world and we found Kit."

"Really?" Scrooge said in pleasant surprise. "Curse me knilt, you finally found him! Those are great news! I can't wait to meet him. Is he here with you?"

"Yeah, but you may want to wait for a while before you meet him," Chris said. "The… the Shadow Minions took our world and he's grieving for his friends and family." He tried to hold in his tears, but his resistance was crumbling.

Scrooge hugged his godson and honorary nephew. "Go ahead, lad. It's okay to cry. It looks like you need to properly grieve too."

Chris burst into tears and bawled into Scrooge's chest as Scrooge continued to hold him in his arms.

"Aye, lad. Let it all out." Scrooge said encouragingly.

"GONE!" Chris cried. "EVERYTHING IS GONE! EVERYONE IS GONE! ...Even the girl I liked...! I HATE THOSE SHADOW MINIONS, I WISH THEY WERE ALL GONE!""  
Scrooge was shocked at Chris' outburst, but then he looked sympathetic of Chris' broken heart and grief.

"Aye, we all hate those blasted things." Scrooge said, hugging Chris a little tighter. "We'll find a way to destroy them."

Chris cried into Scrooge's chest for ten whole minutes, crying out the names of each of his new friends, starting with Ernie and finally, Wendy, before he tired himself out and fell asleep in Scrooge's arms.

"Poor lad. Losing all those new friends and his crush is the hardest thing for such a young lad to go through." Scrooge said, standing up with Chris in his arms, he then carried the bear cub back to the hangar area. "Oy… you're getting heavy, lad."

Back at Matthew's hangar, Matthew was teaching Baloo how to cook a ham and cheese omelette on the modern electric stove.

"...and then you take the spatula and move the omelette from the skillet to the plate." he said, demonstrating the action as he spoke. "And voila! Easy as pie."

Baloo's mouth watered as Matthew set the plate down in front of him, next to the half a dozen other plates of pancake, hamburger, cinnamon toast, a bowl of fried rice, a couple of egg rolls and a glass of fruity milkshake made from the blender. Matthew had been showing Baloo how to cook with each modern kitchen appliances: the stove, the toaster, the toaster oven and the blender.

"Oh boy!" Baloo said, with a napkin tied around his neck. He rubbed his hands together before picking up his fork and taking the first bite of omelette. "Mmmm! Finger lickin' good! Now how do you make a pizza?"

Matthew looked at Baloo with a bored face that read: Are you taking advantage of me?

"You'd need the oven for that, and I don't want to heat it up, because the kitchen is already hot enough as it is." he said, putting the skillet into the sink and starting to wash the dishes.

Just then, the doorbell rang and Baloo jumped, clearly startled and nearly choking on an egg roll.

"Relax, Baloo. That's just the doorbell." Matthew said, walking across the room to answer the door.

Matthew opened the door and saw Scrooge holding Chris in his arms.

"Hello Matthew, I brought yer boy home." Scrooge said, straining a little with Chris' weight. "Take him, will ya? He's heavy!"

"Oh Chris!" Matthew gasped, taking Chris from Scrooge and holding him as if he weighed little more than what a teddy bear would weigh. "What happened? Did he fall? Was he mugged?"

"Cool yer jets, lad!" Scrooge said, stepping inside and closing the door. "You're forgetting that there are no muggers in the D-Star. He was hit by the grief train and cried himself to sleep in the park."

"Lemme guess; he was hiding his emotions, holding it all in until it burst out of him," Matthew said, he shook his head. "I keep telling him it's okay to cry when he needs to. Thanks for bringing him home."

"No problem, lad," Scrooge said, stretching his back and Matthew carried Chris to his bedroom. He did not feel like going through the trouble of putting Chris on his top bunk, so he laid him on the bottom bunk next to Kit, who was still sleeping from his own spell of grief.

The two cubs, as if they each sensed the presence of the other, rolled closer to each other and placed an arm around, cuddling one another.

In the living room, Scrooge paused on his way to his favorite recliner in Matthew's hangar, noticing that Baloo was already sitting and reclining in it, looking very relaxed and contented.

"Oh, hello. I'm Scrooge McDuck." Scrooge said, going right up to Baloo and holding his hand out.

"So you're Chris' wealthy godfather. Nice to meet ya." Baloo said as he shook Scrooge's hand.

"Likewise. So, you're Baloo, right?" Scrooge said, sitting down on the couch instead. "I've read so many articles in the paper about ya, the pilot hero of Cape Suzette."

"Aw, shucks. I'm no hero…" Baloo said, blushing modestly. "I'm just yer everyday average Joe."

"Don't sell yourself short, lad. It takes someone really special to fly the way you do." Scrooge paused, seemed to be thinking. "In fact, if you ever need a job, I could hire ya to pilot my McDuck plane."

"Not now, Scrooge." Matthew said as he walked through the living and sat down on the other end of the couch. "Baloo will need to get to know this world first. Remember what a huge leap in technology it was for us when we first got here? A while ago, Kit and Baloo acted like the ice machine was spitting out grenades."

"Ah yes, I do," Scrooge said. "And I don't blame the guy, that blasted thing is really loud when you first hear it." Just then, a ringtone sounded and Scrooge took out his golden flip phone, flipped it open, glanced at the screen before pushing the call button with his thumb. "What is it, Huey?" after a moment of listening to Huey, he suddenly frowned. "What? What do you mean Dewey's head is stuck in the chimney?! How did he—? HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I TOLD YOU BOYS TO STAY OFF THE ROOF?! Where's Beakley?! That's it, when I get home, he is grounded until he die!" he said, rolling his R on the word 'grounded', He shut his phone with a snap before turning to Baloo and Matthew again. "I gotta go… family emergency." and he left, stomping his feet with an angry look on his face on the way out.

Baloo watched Scrooge go with a bemused expression on his face. "What the...what is that thing he was talking into?"

"That's his cellphone, Baloo. A mobile phone that you can carry in your pocket everywhere." Matthew explained.

"Wow… amazing…" Baloo said in awe.

Chris woke up a few hours later, finding himself in the bed with Kit. He got up and left the room.

In the living room, he saw that Baloo was snoring away in the recliner. He quietly tiptoed past Baloo, went downstairs and got into the McQueen.

He sat down in his seat in the cockpit, took out his phone and pressed on the DTube app. He then scrolled through a string of new videos and saw that Dewey had posted a new video entitled: "Proof that Santa Can't Go Down Chimneys!"

"Oh, this should be funny…" Chris grinned as he pressed on the video. Dewey appeared on screen.

"Hiya y'all! Dewey here. And today, with Christmas just four months away, I decided talk to you guys about...Santa Claus!" Dewey said dramatically. "Okay, so, Santa..." a small box with a picture of Santa Claus appear on screen next to Dewey. "How is this guy getting into our houses every year? Is he getting in through the window? Does he have a key to every houses in the world? The world may never know. But what we do know is that when we were little kids, our parents used to tell us that he gets in by going down the chimney. Which is impossible, by the way. How can a big round guy fit in a narrow square space?" he said, as a full-body picture of Santa appeared on screen.

"Christmas? Wait, what?!" Chris exclaimed in surprise, he quickly checked the date on his phone and saw that it was the middle of August "...Why is he making a video about this topic now? Oh well, back to the video!" He went back to the video and pressed play.

"Well, I'm about to show you why this is impossible and debunk this once and for all!" Dewey said, and then the scene changed to the rooftop of McDuck Manor. Dewey was standing next to the chimney. "Alright, we're on the roof and I'm about to try to go down and prove to you that Santa cannot be going down and coming out for your fireplaces. Now, I know what you're thinking; 'This proves nothing, you're just a skinny kid!', right? Well, don't you worry. If I make it down there, Pete here is going to try to go down the chimney." Dewey gestured to Pete as the camera zoomed out to get Pete in the shot.

Pete gave a big grin and waved at the camera. "Hey, folks! I'm sponsoring this video, which this little shrimp forgot to mention..." he said, glaring down at Dewey.

"Oh, yeah! I'm being sponsored by this guy, who apparently owns a grilling joint at the mall." Dewey said, he then took out a card and read off of it in a bored voice. "If you ever want some delicious grilled food, come on down to Pete's Grill at the mall." he then tossed the card over his shoulder."Now with that outta the way, let's—"

"Now hold on there," Pete interrupted. "You didn't say which mall it is! How would they know where to find me?"

Dewey sighed, rolling his eyes. "Pete, c'mon, there's only one mall. It hardly takes a genius to—"

"Look pal, if you want me to sponsor you in the future, you better read them the whole ad!"

"Alright, fine!" Dewey said exasperatedly. "If you ever want some delicious grilled food, come on down to Pete's Grill at the D-Star Mall. There, now can I please go down the chimney already?"

"Yeah, yeah, sure. Go ahead, kid."

Chris had to pause the video for a moment to have a good laugh at this pair interaction. He unpaused the video and watched as Dewey climbed upon the chimney before diving head-first into the chimney. His head and torso went in before he got stuck, with his white feathery rear end and yellow duck feet sticking out, kicking in all directions.

"Uh-oh... oh no! I'm stuck! HELP! GET ME OUTTA HERE! ...See, this is why it's impossible for Santa to go down the chimney. If a skinny kid like me can't do it, what makes you guys think that a big fat guy can do it?"

"Eh, a skinny kid can do it just fine." Pete said indifferently. "It's your big head that's got you stuck. Well, seeing as you proved your point, I'm no longer needed. See ya later, shrimp."

"Hey, don't go! Lemme outta here! Uncle Scrooge will kill me if he caught me up here!"

The video went on for a few seconds only showing Dewey legs kicking around at the mouth of the chimney. And then there was an edit cut to Scrooge walking up to the chimney and leaning against it.

"Dewey, where are you?" Scrooge asked in a bored, unconcerned voice.

"In the chimney…."

"Right, right, and...where is the chimney?"

"...on the roof…."

"And where are you NOT supposed to be right now?" Scrooge asked, tipping his foot, looking annoyed.

"...The roof…."

"You know what this means, don't ya, lad?"

"I'm grounded, aren't I?" Dewey said in a depressed voice.

"Too right you are. For four months! Consider yourself lucky not to be grounded on Christmas, or you would've gotten coal this year." Scrooge said.

"FOUR MONTHS?! Uncle Scrooge, that's cruel!" Dewey whined.

"No," Scrooge said as he climbed up the chimney, grasped Dewey's leg and plucked him out the chimney, like pulling a vegetable out of the ground. "It's tough love."

Dewey's head emerged from the chimney, his whole head was black from the soot of the chimney.

"Ah! Good grief, lad. Your head is filthy!" Scrooge said as he started climbing down one-handed, still holding Dewey upside down by the ankle. "Well, I've got just the punishment for ya, my little chimney sweep."

"Oh no..."

"Oh yes! Tomorrow, you're going to clean this chimney until it is spotless!"

The video cut to Dewey facing the camera in his room, his head was still black. "Hey guys, as you saw, Uncle Scrooge caught me and now I'm grounded for four months. Which means no more Dewey's Late Night Show for four months. I've been given permission to get back on here and announce that I'm now on a hiatus. Sorry, guys. Take care of yourselves. 'Night! ...Wait, do I really have a big head?" and that was the end of the video and Chris' screen went black.

"Aww…that's too bad. I really like his show." Chris said, sighing with disappointment. He then let out a big yawn and stretched his arms. "Well, I better get some sleep. Hopefully Dad will let me take Kit to the mall tomorrow. He can't keep wearing his PE clothes. Wait, why am I still wearing my PE clothes?"

Chris got out of the plane, went back into the suite and into his bedroom, where he found Kit still sleeping on the bottom bunk. Chris took off his PE clothes and put on his blue nightshirt with yellow stars all over it. He then climbed up into the top bunk, settled in and fell asleep.

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **I hope you all have enjoyed this episode and I hope you find it entertaining. More episodes are coming!**

 **Special thanks to my editor, Cyclone Blaze, for helping me edit this episode after I've written it.**


	10. Episode Ten - The D-Star Mall

**Disclaimer: I do not own TaleSpin or any of the other Disney Afternoon shows. If I did, this story would be animated and on my YouTube channel!**

* * *

 **Episode Ten**

 **The D-Star Mall**

* * *

Kit awoke the next morning, feeling a little depressed as a result of his grieving from the previous day for everyone he knew that vanished along with his world. He sat up, stretched, letting out a huge yawn before getting out of bed.

Kit then realized that he was still wearing his P.E. clothes. "Aw man, I don't have anything to change into…Oh well, maybe Chris have something for me to wear " he said, as he walked over to the closet, opened it and saw that Chris had a dozen of the same French sky blue sweatshirts, all hanging on hangers. "Oh wow, so Chris isn't wearing the same thing everyday. He just has more than one of the same sweatshirt. I hope he doesn't mind if I borrow one." he then took one from its' hanger.

Kit emerged from Chris' bedroom, wearing Chris' sweatshirt. He found Chris sitting at the bar, eating a bowl of cereal. Baloo and Matthew were at the stove, fanning away at something that was smoking. Evidently, Matthew was attempting to teach Baloo how to make scrambled eggs on a modern electric stove. Somehow Baloo had managed to scorch the eggs, they were blacken and unfit to eat.

"Aw, I'm sorry, Matt!" Baloo coughed, still fanning away at the smoke. "I've ruined some perfectly good eggs."

"It's fine, Baloo. It's fine." Matthew said, trying to sound patient while also coughing and fanning the smoke. "You're just learning…" he checked the heat-adjusting dial. "Ah, here's the problem; you set it up too high. It should be on medium-low, not high."

Kit walked over to the stool next to Chris. "'Morning."

Chris looked over at him, munching on his cereal. "Hey, you're wearing my sweatshirt!" he said, sounding pleasantly surprised, as Kit sat down next to him.

"Yeah, it was either this or my P.E. clothes. You don't mind, do you?" Kit said, he then noticed that Chris was dressed differently today. He was wearing a blue T-shirt over a long sleeve French sky blue shirt. "I see you're dressed differently today."

"Huh?" Chris said, looking down at his outfit. "Oh yeah, I got the idea for this outfit from my friend Dewey."

"That's a neat style. I've never thought of wearing a short sleeve over a long sleeve before." Kit said as Chris passed him a bowl and a box of cereal. He then tugged the belly of the sweatshirt out. "You must be thinner than me, because this feels a little tight."

Chris picked at one of the sleeves of Kit's arm. "Nah, you're just wearing one of my old sweatshirts. I've been meaning to update my wardrobe."

"I guess I need to buy my own wardrobe ...but, I don't have any money…" Kit said, pulling his empty pockets inside out.

"Yeah, but we'll need to go to the mall for that." Chris said.

"Yes, I agree," Matthew said, approaching them. "By the way, Kit, this is for you." he said, withdrawing a card from his pocket and handing it to Kit.

"What's this?" Kit said, taking the card and examining it.

Chris looked over at the card. "Oh! That's a D-Mall gift card, you buy stuff from any stores in there with that. How much is on that card, Dad?"

"There's twelve hundred dollars on that card," Matthew said with a smile. "One hundred dollars for each birthdays and Christmases that I've missed."

"What?!" Kit yelped in shock, and now he was holding the card more carefully, like it was a piece of glass. "You're telling me that there's twelve hundred dollar in this thing?! As in one thousand and two hundred dollars?!"

"Yeah," Matthew confirmed.

"Hey, where's MY gift card?" Chris demanded, holding out his hand.

"Chris, you have had all twelve years of birthday and Christmas presents from me!" Matthew laughed.

Chris chuckled as he withdrew his hand. "Hey, you can't blame me for trying…"

Matthew chuckled as he ruffled Chris' hair. "I'm beginning to think you've been spending too much time with Louie."

A ringtone sounded and Kit was looking all around for the source of the sound. Chris took out his smartphone, and Kit stared at it as he realized that from the little flat device was where the sound was coming from.

"Speaking of the devil," Chris chuckled as he tapped on the screen with his thumb before holding it up to his ear. "Hey, Louie, how it's going? ...Yeah, I'm back now….YEAH! We did, he's right here next to me! ...I'm sure he'd like to meet you, too! We're planning to go to the mall today, so maybe we'll meet you there. ...Okay, I'll see ya then. Take care, man! Alright, bye!" He took the device away from his ear and tapped the screen again, ending the call.

Kit was staring at Chris as if he had grown two extra heads. "Chris…. What… in the world...is that thing?" he asked, pointing at the smartphone in Chris' hand.

"This?" Chris said, holding up his smartphone. "This is my smartphone."

Looking skeptical, Kit took the smartphone from Chris and examined it. "This is a _PHONE_? But... it's so… tiny and flat… and where's the dial?"

"Here, let me show you." Chris took his phone back and touched the Call app, causing the twelve dial buttons to appear on screen, from one to zero. "There, now you can dial any number."

Kit retook the phone from Chris and attempted to dial Higher for Hire's phone number, but he had trouble getting the numbers to work and also he kept getting the wrong numbers. The more he pressed the wrong number, the more furiously he jabbed his finger at the screen.

After a dozens of failed attempts, out of frustration, Kit shoved the phone back to Chris. "I hate this thing! It doesn't work right for me!"

"Aw, c'mon, Kit… You're just not used to it, that's all. It works fine. Here, see?" Chris said, dialing a number. "You just touch the numbers gently, you don't jab at them very hard like you were doing. I'm surprised my screen isn't cracked!"

"Chris…." Matthew said in a stern voice. "You and I had the same issues as him five years ago when we first came here, remember? You got so impatient with your first D-Phone, that you threw it out the window when you couldn't get it to do what you wanted."

"Yes, Dad…" Chris said, looking ashamed. "And then you gave me the spanking of a lifetime for breaking an expensive device…"

"The spanking of a—? I only swatted your tail section three times!" Matthew said, looking indigent at Chris' exaggeration.

"They're still very memorable..."

"Well, seeing as you never threw another phone since then, I'd say the spanking was a success, wouldn't you?"

"...Yeah..." Chris admitted reluctantly, not meeting his Dad's eyes and subconsciously rubbing his furry behind, as if he still felt the sting of that spanking.

Kit chuckled behind his hand, trying not to laugh at the mental image of Chris getting a spanking from their Dad.

"So, Kit," Matthew said, turning his attention to Kit. "I've cleared my schedule for the entire week to spend time with you. I can show you around and help you get your footing in this world. What would you like to do first?"

"Um….well... " said Kit uncertainly, he glanced down at the gift card he was holding. "...I guess I'd like to check out this…'mall' you and Chris mentioned. But first... what _IS_ a mall?"

Matthew thought for a moment, trying to decide on the best way to describe the mall to a kid fresh out of the nineteen-thirties. "...It's like a marketplace, but it's inside a big building."

"A building full of stores and shops?" Kit asked.

"YEP! And it has an arcade and a food court!" Chris added, looking hyped at the thought of the arcade.

"What's an arcade?" Kit said, bemused.

Baloo's ears perked up at the sound of food court. "And what does this 'food court' serves?"

Chris froze at Kit's question. Then he dashed at Kit and put an arm around him "What's an ar—? Heh-heh-heh Oh, my dear brother... you have not lived until you've set foot in the world of video game consoles!" Turning to Baloo, he said. "The food court serves practically everything, so you may get to try new things you haven't tried before."

"Well, what are we waitin' for? Let's go!" Baloo said excitedly.

"Uh.." Matthew said, looking Baloo up and down before leaning closer to Kit and whispering: "Baloo's not going to hurt my wallet, is he?"

"Oh yeah, he will." Kit whispered back, nodding. "He will order everything on the menu."

Matthew cringed at Kit's confirmation, before sighing in resignation. He then stood up and withdrew his wallet to check its' contents. "I have a feeling I'm going to regret taking him out to eat…"

Kit turned back to Chris, he asked. "What are video games?"

"Um… I can't really put that into words, not without having to explain dozens of other things." Chris said, as he and Kit followed Matthew and Baloo out of the suite and downstairs and into the hangar below. "I guess you'll have to see it for yourself."

Matthew walked over to a thing that was covered by a big giant cloth. He gripped the cloth and pulled it away, revealing what look like a red race car with yellow lightning stickers on the sides.

"Wow, what's that?" Kit asked in awe, he had never seen a car as nice-looking as this one, much less a nice-looking race car.

"This," Matthew said, patting the roof of the car. "Is the _McQueen_ car."

"Whoa, what a sweet ride you've got here, Matt." Baloo said in awe, leaning over the car and placing his hand on the passenger side window.

"Hands off!" Matthew snapped, slapping Baloo's hand. He then got out a bottle of Windex and a cloth, he sprayed on Baloo's handprint on the window and wiping it away, while Baloo rubbed the back of his hand with a look of slight resentment.

Chris patted Baloo's arm sympathetically. "Don't feel bad, Uncle Baloo. He doesn't even let me touch his car."

Matthew opened the passenger door and folded the seat, revealing the backseat. "Hop in," he said to Kit and Chris.

Kit and Chris climbed into the backseat, Kit looking all around the car's cockpit in awe. "Wow…" he said as Matthew put the passenger seat back into place. "I've never seen anything like this! This car's awesome!"

Baloo got into the passenger seat as Matthew walked around the car to the driver's side.

As Matthew inserted the key and started the engine, it roared like an actual race car and the radio started playing the song " _Life is a Highway_ " by Rascal Flatts.

Baloo jumped, clearly startled. He did not expected music to blast off on him. "AAHH! What the—? You've got a radio in yer car?! And uh, oh baby, this song's got the beat!" he said, bobbing his head and snapping his fingers to the song.

"Well boys," Matthew said, putting on a pair of sunglasses, just to look cool. "Let's roll out!" he put the car into gear and the car shot out of the hangar at high speed. The car then squealed to a halt, Matthew pressed the button on a remote and the doors of the hangar closed behind.

"Oh man!" Baloo said, recovering from the sudden burst of speed and sudden halt, he was surprised that the seat belt did such a good job at holding him in place. "This baby got quite a kick, doesn't she?"

In the backseat, Kit leaned over to Chris.

"Chris, please tell me Dad is not about to drive like a maniac.." Kit said nervously.

"Um… y-you might wanna hold on to your seatbelt…" Chris said, gripping his own seat belt tightly.

"Alright, boys! Hold on to your hats!" Matthew cried as he put the pedal to the metal and sped out the hangar area. Kit and Baloo screamed as a the car sped down the road, dodging other cars without slowing down or stopping.

The _McQueen_ car approached the speed of two hundred miles per hour as it neared the suburban neighborhood. A speed limit sign came into view, reading: Speed Limit: 20. And below the number were big handwritten words that read: " **SLOW DOWN, MATTHEW!** "

Matthew slammed on the brake, and the car screeched to a halt, and Baloo and Kit were surprised they were not thrown through the windshield as their seat belt locked, holding them in place.

Matthew took off his sunglasses, staring at the handwritten words with a scowl. "I know that handwriting… Alright, Peg, I'll slow down. I'll go _REEEAL_ slow."

Baloo and Kit braced themselves for another burst of speed, but to their surprise, they were barely rolling along through the neighborhood. They were going so slow, that Kit felt he could outrun the car now. Soon, there was a long line of cars behind them, all honking at Matthew, yelling at him to go faster.

"Oh, I'm sorry, guys!" Matthew yelled back at them out of his window. "Peg told me to go real slow!"

A woman stormed out of a house in temper and marched to the pavement, stopping right next to her mailbox, facing them with an angry face and holding up a sign that read: " **Don't be a moron, Matthew! Go FASTER.** "

Matthew grinned at her and saluted her and was about to speed up when the woman flipped her sign over. The other side read: " **...within the speed limit…** " to which, Matthew groaned and sped up to twenty miles per hour.

As they passed her, Kit looked back at her and then turned to Chris. "Who's that?"

"A woman you do NOT want to cross," Chris said, looking terrified at the thought of her. "Her name is Peg Pete. She's my friend, P.J.'s mom."

"What's so bad about her?" Kit asked. "I mean, I know ladies can be scary when they're mad. I see that all the time with Miss Cu... you know."

"Yeah," Chris said, reaching for Kit's hand and giving it a squeeze. "But P.J.'s mom takes this scary angry woman thing to a whole 'nother level. With a husband like Pete, she kinda have to. She can be real nice, too."

"Who's Pete?" Kit asked.

"You'll see him later at the mall." Chris said, he giggled and then whispered. "But I have a feeling Baloo is going to clean him out."

"...What…?" Kit said, not getting it.

"You'll see, old bro."

They drove through the neighborhood and up the road that led to a vast white castle with many turrets and towers with blue roof tiles on them. A flag waved on the top of every towers.

Baloo and Kit gazed in awe at the castle as they got closer and closer to it.

"Whoa… that's the mall?" Kit asked, gazing ahead at the castle. "It's huge!"

"Well, as it houses all our shops and stores, it kinda has to be." Matthew pointed out.

"Oh wow, I can't wait to see what's inside!" Kit said, gazing in awe at the mall as Matthew drove them into the mall's parking lot.

Matthew drove around the parking lot until he found a parking space and parked the car.

They all got out of the car, and Baloo and Kit stared up in awe at the huge castle towering over them like some monstrous building. The mere sight of it was almost overwhelming.

"Wow… how many stores and shops are there in here?" Kit asked, looking the castle up and down

"At least a hundred, I think." Chris said, looking thoughtful. "Not counting the food court."

"Wow, all of that under one roof? This is unreal!" Kit said, looking around with a look of awe on his face.

"Food court? Oh yeah, the food court!" Baloo asked, perking up. "Where is that? I wanna check that out!"

"We'll check it out later, Baloo," Matthew said, wanting to delay the pain in the wallet that was sure to come. "For now, let's let Kit explore some of the stores so he can buy things with his gift card."

They entered the mall through the front doors and Kit and Baloo were almost overwhelmed by sights. It was a beautiful high-ceiling long hall with shops and stores up and down the hall. And looking up, Kit could actually see the upper floors of stores and shops.

"Wow… so many stores. It's hard to decide which to visit first" Kit said, gazing all around.

"May I suggest Sunni's Wardrobe?" Chris said, gesturing to the said store. "You do need more clothes, so you wouldn't have to borrow my clothes anymore."

"Okay. Yeah, you're right, let's go." Kit said, leading the way to the store. He was greeted by a yellow girl bear who was the same height as him. When he saw her, he froze, staring at her.

"Hey, finally a new face!" the girl said, "Well, it's Chris' face. But with a darker fur color."

"M-M-Molly?" Kit said, staring at her with disbelieving eyes.

"Molly? Sorry, but I'm Sunni." the girl said. "You're Kit, right?"

"Y-yeah! Sorry, it's just that… you look like someone I knew." Kit said, bowing his head in sadness. Chris placed a comforting hand on Kit's shoulder.

"Oh…" Sunni said sympathetically, knowing by Kit's tone that he had just lost someone close to him, perhaps even his whole world. "I...I'm sorry."

"N-no, it's okay. It's not your fault." Kit said hastily, while trying to keep his emotions in check. "Uhm, I'd like to buy some clothes. I'm wearing my brother's clothes." he added, picking at the collar of his sweatshirt."

Sunni's face brightened up. "If it's clothes you want, you've come to the right place. Come, follow me!" Sunni grabbed Kit's arm and pulled him further into her shop, where she stood him onto a stage before three full length mirrors. "Now, let's begin!" she then took out a remote and pressed the button.

A wall popped up from the floor, hiding Kit from view, all that could be seen was his silhouette on the wall. Another press of the button and Kit yelped and cried out as robotic arms came down from the ceiling and stripped him naked, before dressing him in something else. Sunni pressed the button and the wall came down, revealing Kit in a yellow shirt with a black zigzag pattern.

Sunni stared at Kit with narrow eyes before saying "Nah, that's not your color. NEXT!"

Before Kit could say anything, the wall was back up again and the robotic arms took his shirt off of him and then dressed him in a new outfit. When the wall came down, Kit stood there in a cowboy outfit with a cow patterned vest, looking unnerved by this method of trying on clothes.

"Nope!"

Next thing Kit knew, he was wearing a red and black superhero costume, then a secret agent tuxedo, then an orange caveman's shirt, then a Darkwing Duck costume, then a space ranger suit, then a green Peter Pan costume, then a red wizard's robe, then an elementary school uniform, complete with a blue jacket, white-blue shorts, red shoes, a red bow tie and a pair of black frame glasses, then a yellow T-shirt with a single red stripe near the bottom of the shirt, and finally, an English detective costume, all the while Sunni kept saying "Nope!" in between change of clothes.

"STOP! STOP!" Kit yelled, fighting the robotic hands as it attempted to strip him again.

Sunni turned everything off and the wall came down again, revealing Kit, wearing a pink T-shirt with a pink cap. He took off the pink cap and replaced it with his own blue baseball cap.

"C-can I please just look around for something I like?" Kit asked with a pleading look on his face. "I hate being repeatedly stripped and dressed over and over."

"Sure! Go ahead." Sunni said, putting away her remote.

Kit walked around and browsed through the store. Finding something he liked, he went into the dressing room.

Chris, Matthew and Baloo waited outside the dressing room, as Kit took off his dreadful pink shirt and put on his new outfit. Kit emerged from the dressing room, wearing a long sleeve olive green shirt with two white stripes on each of the upper sleeves. He also wore a green sleeveless jacket zipped up over his shirt.

"Well? How do I look?" Kit asked, turning around in a full circle on the spot, showing them his back and front.

"You look cool!" Chris said.

"Nice, it suits you." Matthew said, giving Kit an approving thumb-up.

"Yeah, Lil' Britches," Baloo said. "It looks great on you, but this is gonna take some gettin' used to. I'm so used to your old sweatshirt look..."

"Don't worry, Papa Bear. I won't change too much," Kit assured him. "Look, I'll keep this old hat you gave me." he said, pointing at the blue baseball cap with a red brim on his head, to which, Baloo smiled proudly. Kit was still his boy.

Chris and Matthew had to talk a clueless Kit through paying for his items by swiping his gift card on the payment terminal and then type in the amount he was required to pay.

After about ten minutes, Kit stepped out of Sunni's Wardrobe, carrying two shopping bags. One bag contained five extra sets of the same outfit he was currently wearing. The other bag contained multiple different outfits. All in all, Kit had spent one hundred dollars on clothes using his gift card. Chris had to show him how to swipe it though.

"Well that's my clothes bought. What's next?" Kit asked as he took one step out of the shop.

"WATCH OUT!" Chris yelled, grabbing Kit by the shoulders and yanking him back into the shop as a dozen different colored giant balls went rolling pass the shop.

"Phew! Thanks, Chris," Kit said with a grateful smile, then he stuck his head out of the shop to watch the multi-colored balls go. "What are those things?"

"They're Terra-Firmians." Chris replied.

"Terra-what?"

"Terra-Fimians," Chris repeated. "They normally live underground, sometimes in abandoned subway tunnels. Uncle Scrooge recruited them to work in the mall. You see, we don't really have enough people to run all the shops and stores in this place. So Uncle Scrooge got us these Terra-Fimians to run all the rest of the stores."

Kit could think of nothing to say, except: "What's a subway?"

"Underground train station." Chris said as they all left the shop.

"Under—? How on earth do you put an entire train underground?" Baloo asked from behind the two cubs.

Chris shrugged. "I dunno, lots of digging and tunneling. I guess." he said, not sure how to explain any further than that.

"Perhaps we can explain subways another time," Matthew suggested. "So, Kit, where to next?"

"Oh, Kit, you gotta shop at Gimzo-Tech! They have all the best computers and phones." Chris said excitedly, grabbing Kit's arm and pulling him towards the electronic shop."

"Chris..." Matthew said sternly, and Chris froze at his Dad's tone. "You aren't thinking of taking advantage of Kit and getting him to buy that new laptop that _YOU_ wanted with HIS money, are you?"

Chris looked sheepish and then he tried to look deeply hurt by Matthew's accusation. "What..? No… no, of course not." but unable to help himself, he added in a whisper to Kit: "But you do need a phone, so let's go get you a phone!"

"But what would I need a—WAH"! Kit started to say, but ended in a yelp as Chris yanked him towards the Gizmo-Tech place.

"Chris, NO!" Matthew yelled, he dashed over to them, slapped Chris' hand so he'd let go of Kit and then swatted Chris' rear end, causing him to yelp with shock. Matthew glared down at Chris. "Young man, we need to talk," he said, grabbing Chris' ear and pulling him over to a photo booth.

"Ow, ow, ow! Dad, that's my ear! It hurts!" Chris whined on the way there.

"What were you thinking?!" Matthew hissed, once they were inside the photo booth with the curtain closed. "You wanna overwhelm and overload your brother? He's not ready to be surrounded by so many computers and other devices at once! Don't you remember how he just reacted to our kitchen?! How do you think he'd be in there?"

"Gee, Daddy. I'm sorry…" Chris sniffed, tears started sliding down his cheek. "I just didn't think…"

"That..." said Matthew. "Is obvious. We need to take things slow with those two, we need to start small and then work our way up to the laptop or other devices."

"This from the guy who loves going two hundred miles per hour…" Chris muttered under his breath.

Kit and Baloo stood outside Sunni's Wardrobe, watching the photo booth with a confused look on their faces. Kit also felt bad, feeling that he had somehow got his little brother in trouble. He knew he had done nothing wrong, but he still felt like it was his fault Chris got in trouble.

"Are you followin' any of this, Lil Britches?" Baloo asked. "What's going on?"

"Mm-mmm-mm," Kit said with a shrug, saying 'I dunno' through his closed lips

Matthew and Chris emerged from the photo booth, Chris was very subdued, looking like he was about to cry, absentmindedly rubbing his rear where his Dad had swatted him.

"Sorry about that," Matthew said. "Chris nearly exposed you to too much at once. And he's very sorry, aren't you, son?"

"Yeah… I'm sorry…" Chris mumbled, looking down at his feet in shame, making Kit feel even worse for his brother.

"So, where to next?" Matthew asked. "I know this antique shop that sells stuff from our era, if you wanna check that out…"

"Actually, Dad, I think I'm done for today. We can head back home." Kit said, not really in the mood for shopping now that he was feeling bad for Chris.

"But Kit..." Baloo whined, looking so disappointed. "What about the food court? I was really looking forward to that!"

"We can check it out another time, Papa Bear," Kit said. "Now please, let's just go…" he said, trying not to look at Chris and make himself feel even worse.

Baloo slumped his shoulders. "Alright, Lil Britches. We'll check it out next time…"

As they walked towards the exit, Kit noticed a masked duck in a corner by himself. He sat behind a table littered with photos of himself in various different poses, but no one was paying any attention to him, walking past him, either because they already have one or they don't want one.

"Who's that?" Kit asked, pointing at the depressed-looking masked duck.

"Ah, that's just some washed-up, has-been hero trying to get attention." Chris said in a sad little voice, obviously still affected by his Dad scolding him. "Sure he can be heroic at times, but his attention-seeking habits had gotten old really fast."

"I feel sorry for him. I'll go buy an autograph." Kit said, he walked over to the Masked Mallard. "Excuse me, I'd like an autograph..."

Darkwing perked up at that. "You would?! I-I mean, of course you would! No kid can resist an autograph from St Canard's finest crime fighter!" he then disappeared in a cloud of blue smoke. "I am the terror that flaps in the night! I am the bane of all evil doers! I am...DARKWINGGGGG DUCK!" he burst out of his smoke, striking a pose that spread his cape like wings. "And now I will sign... uh, kid? Where'd you go?" he said, looking around, for Kit had disappeared.

"I'm here." Kit said, emerging from under the table.

"What were you doing down there, kid?" Darkwing asked, bemused.

"You said DUCK. I thought you meant get down!"" Kit explained, which caused Chris to laugh behind his hand, momentarily forgetting his Dad's scolding.

Darkwing stared at Kit, his hat drooped and his shoulders slumped. "No... no, that's my name, Darkwing Duck..."

"I-I'm sorry, I'm new here and—" Kit stammered.

Darkwing sighed. "It's alright, kid..." he said, taking his seat behind the table and grabbing a photo, preparing to sign it. "Who should I make this out to?"

"Kit, sir. Kit Cloudkicker."

"Alrighty, Kid." Darkwing said, signing a photo of himself and handing it to him. "Here you are, that'll be fifty cents."

Kit took the autographed photo and then got his gift card out. "Okay, I think I remember how to do this…" he then looked at the price sign. He saw that the original price started out as being ten dollars, prices were crossed out and a lower price was added beneath the last until it was down to fifty cents, showing how desperate Darkwing was to hand out autographs. Feeling even more sorry for the Masked Mallard, Kit swiped his gift card on the payment terminal that sat on the table next to the photos. He had to do it twice in a row because with first his attempt, his card was backwards, and when he swiped his card the right way, he then typed in the amount he wanted to give Darkwing, ten dollars for his autograph and said: "Keep the change." before walking away with Chris.

Darkwing's face lit up as he watched Kit go. Kit had clearly made his day! He then looked puzzled, scratching his head. "Change? Who gives change from a gift card payment? Oh well, sweet kid, though," he said as he watched them go.

As they walked towards the next shop, Chris glanced at the photo Kit was holding and read the writing upon it. "Hey, Kit, he misspelled your name."

"Huh?" Kit said, reading the writing. It said: _Kid, chase your dreams and dare to dream big! —Your favorite crime fighter, Darkwing Duck._ "Heh, I only just met him and he thinks he's my favorite..."

They all left the mall and walked towards the car with Chris lagging behind the others. Kit noticed this and hung back to allow Chris to catch up with him, then he walked side-by-side with Chris.

"Hey, I'm sorry," Kit said, putting an arm around Chris' shoulder, which was made difficult due to the shopping bag dangling from it.

"What for?" Chris asked perplexed, looking up at Kit.

"I just... feel like it's all my fault you got in trouble with Dad." Kit said. "I didn't mean to get you in trouble."

"Whaat? Kit, no. It was all me! I got me in trouble." Chris said, surprised at Kit for blaming himself for him getting in trouble. He then stopped walking and hugged Kit. "You didn't do anything wrong, so please don't feel bad for me. I deserved it anyway."

"Yeah, well…" Kit said, hugging Chris back. "I still hate seeing you so sad."

Chris smiled weakly. "I'll try not to be sad around you."

"Just try not to keep it all bottled up inside." Kit advised as they walked on towards the car.

One wild car ride later, they found themselves back at the hangar. Kit and Chris both got out and kissed the ground, so thankful the ride was over.

"I don't think I can ever get used to Dad's driving." Kit gasped.

"Hey, how do you think I feel? I had to put up with it for years and I'm _STILL_ not used to it." Chris said as he panted and gasped for air.

"Aw c'mon, boys. You're exaggerating," Matthew said as he got out of the car. "My driving's A-plus!"

"Oh, yeah? Try telling that to Baloo," Kit said, jerking a thumb towards the front passenger seat, where Baloo sat frozen, staring blankly ahead with his mouth open in a silent scream, his face as white as a sheet.

"Baloo? Baloo!" Matthew said, opening Baloo's door, placing a hand on Baloo's shoulder and shook him. "Are you okay?"

Baloo, with his face still frozen in this silent scream, stiffly turned his head to look at Matthew and gave a shrill whistle of a scream. It sounded Baloo had lost his voice somewhere along the way.

"Oh my gosh, Baloo! I'm so sorry." Matthew said, pulling Baloo from the car and helping him to stand. "Just stand still for a moment, I'm sure your voice will eventually catch up with you."

"DAD!" Chris shouted. "Now is not the time for that line of speed humor!"

Baloo tried to speak, judging from his expression, he was trying to yell at Matthew with angry words, but all that came out was a series of squeaks that sounded like a broken squeaky toy.

Matthew sighed. "Well, get back in the car, Baloo. I gotta take you to Morgana."

Baloo scrambled away from the car, as though it was a death trap and shook his head vigorously, his eyes wide in fear.

"I'm surprised I'm not acting like Baloo right now..." Chris commented.

Matthew sighed again. "Okay, okay, get in the plane, Baloo. I'll fly you there instead."

Baloo, looking very happy, nodded vigorously and then ran towards the _McQueen_.

"Seems weird taking the plane for a ten-minutes trip, but oh well…" Matthew said as he followed Baloo to the McQueen.

The _McQueen_ rolled out of the hangar before taking off, only to land somewhere a dozen or so miles away.

Back at the hangar, Kit turned to Chris. "Who's Morgana?" he asked.

Chris took out his smartphone and began thumbing through his picture gallery. When he found the picture he wanted, he held the phone up to show Kit.

"Morgana Macawber, Transylvanian sorceress, and love interest of Darkwing Duck." Chris said. "Now she's our main nurse."

"She looks more like the Bride of Frankenstein, if you ask me." Kit said, giving Morgana's picture a weird look. "Think she'll be able to fix Baloo's voice?"

"Of course she can, there's no question about it!" Chris said with absolutely no doubt in his voice. "It pays to have a sorceress for a nurse. One time, my friend Dewey got a little too daring and walked into a trap that turned him into a mouse. Miss Morgana was able to turn him back to normal."

"Wow, sounds like you got some, um, interesting friends." Kit said. "I'd like to meet them sometime."

"Well, let's go now!" Chris said, grabbing Kit's wrist and leading him out of the hangar.

"Go where?" Kit asked, bemused.

"To meet my friends, of course!"

Before Kit knew it, he and Chris stood before a set of golden gates. A manor house stood a way beyond the gates.

"Chris, what is this place?" Kit said in awe of the house. "Whoever owns this place must be loaded!"

"This is my Uncle Scrooge's place." Chris said. "He's not really my uncle, but he is the best godfather a kid could ask for! I'm friends with his grandnephews. Since they always called him Uncle Scrooge, I started to do the same and I've been calling him that ever since."

"So, this is your godfather's house? How do we get in?" Kit asked, taking a bar of the gate in his hand.

"Easy, watch." Chris said, he pressed the call button on the intercom panel."Hi, Mrs. Beakley! Could you please open up? I'd like to meet my brother, Kit!"

"Of course, dear, come in." a voice responded from the intercom, and just like that, the gate opened, startling Kit, who had never before seen a set of gates open seemingly by themselves.

"C'mon, Kit!" Chris said excitedly, grabbing Kit's hand and pulling him up the drive towards the front door. He knocked three times on the door and only had to wait three seconds before the door opened and there stood Mrs. Beakley.

Kit's first impression of Mrs. Beakley was that this was not someone he'd want to cross and that was saying something, since he'd already crossed the likes Don Karnage. She wore a purple jacket and white apron, she also wore thick black frame glasses. Her face read no nonsense and strictness, but she also seemed to have a soft spot for Chris, as she smiled warmly down at him.

"Mrs. Beakley!" Chris cried joyfully, hugging Mrs. Beakley around the waist.

"Well, hello there, Chris," Mrs. Beakley said, enfolding Chris in her arms. "I see that you're cosplaying Dewey again."

"Nah, I'm not cosplaying him. I just really like this style, that's all." Chris said before going back to Kit's side. "Mrs. Beakley," he said, taking Kit's hand and pulling him closer to Mrs. Beakley. "I'd like you to meet my brother, Kit Cloudkicker!"

"Hm," Mrs. Beakley said, looking Kit up and down. "Looks more like your father than you." she observed. But then she smiled and held out a hand to Kit. "Nice to finally meet you, Kit. I am Bentina Beakley, Mr. McDuck's housekeeper slash bodyguard and _NOT_ secretary!"

"Uh… okay…?" Kit said, not sure what else to say to that last part.

"Where's Webby? I'd like to introduce her to Kit!" Chris said, looking around for her.

"Oh, you know my Webby. She could be anywhere in this house and could pop out at you when you least expect it."

"Well, let's just hope she doesn't scare Kit." Chris said, before getting behind Kit and pushing him further into the house. "C'mon Kit!"

As they walked through the house, Kit was a little overwhelmed by the sight of the home of the richest duck in the D-Star. There was a giant portrait of Scrooge McDuck in a bowler hat. On the mantle above the fireplace was a bowl of apples with diamonds in them.

"Is that your Uncle Scrooge?" Kit asked, pointing to the portrait, and then he pointed to the bowl of fruits. "Are those _REAL_ diamonds?!"

"To answer both of your questions in one word, yes." Chris said, heading to stairs leading up to the long hall of bedrooms and bathrooms.

As Chris was halfway up the stairs, Kit put his foot on the first step, still staring around, wishing he had eight more eyes, trying to look at everything at once. Suddenly a whip wrapped around Kit's torso, pinning his arms to his sides.

"CHRIS!" Kit yelped as he was yanked to the floor and dragged across the floor and out of sight.

"KIT!" Chris yelled, he jumped onto the handrail and slid down it, cartwheeling off the rail and onto the floor. "Kit? Kit, where are you?" he called out, but Kit was nowhere to be seen. "Webby? Webby! Don't scare him too bad, he's my brother!" Chris yelled as he ran through the house, trying every door in the process. "Webby!"

Kit suddenly found himself hanging upside down in a spotlight in what he assumed was the basement. He then noticed a small dark figure darting around him.

"Who are you, you poorly-made Chris clone?" the dark figure demanded. "Who sent you? Ma Beagle? Magica De Spell? Glomgold? _ANSWER ME!_ "

Kit screamed loudly and the basement door was kicked opened and the light came on, revealing the dark figure to be a duck girl, and Chris stood on top of the stairs, looking down on them.

"Webby, you've caught my brother and I'd like him back, please." Chris said with a bored face.

"Your brother?" the girl then gasped. "Oh my gosh! I finally get to meet your brother!" she then grabbed a dagger and cut the rope holding Kit from the ceiling.

As Chris came down the stairs, he waved his hand, causing Kit to freeze in mid-fall, he then swirled his hand, turning Kit rightside up and lowered him gently to the floor.

Kit scrambled away from Webby and hid behind Chris, just as he reached the end of the stairs.

"Who is this crazy girl?" Kit asked as he hid behind Chris' back.

"Kit, this is Webby Vanderquack," Chris said, pulling Kit out from behind his back and pushed him towards Webby. "Webby, meet my brother, Kit Cloudkicker."

"Hi," Webby said brightly, holding out her hand to Kit. "I can't believe I'm finally meeting Chris' long-lost brother!"

"Um... " Kit said, reluctantly taking her hand and shaking it. "Nice to meet you, Webby…"

After the handshake, Webby looked overawed as she gazed at her hand with stars in her eyes. "I'm never washing this hand again!"

"Erm...you should really wash your hand." Kit said. "I'm nothing special, just a regular old kid."

"A regular old kid? HA!" Webby laughed. "You're a Cloudkicker, your family is amazing and therefore, _YOU'RE_ amazing!" she paused and then asked: "You... _CAN_ cloudsurf, right?

"Uh, yeah, I can." Kit said, looking unsure of his safety around this girl. She was loud and excitable, and she had already hung him upside down!

"Oh my gosh! You must show me!" Webby cried excitedly. "I'll go get Launchpad! I'll be right back!" she then left the room via hidden door in the ceiling.

"C'mon, let's get outta here before she comes back." Chris said with a hand on Kit's shoulder.

"Huh? W-why?" Kit asked.

"Trust me, you don't wanna to get on a plane with Launchpad. Now let's go!" Chris said, pulling Kit up the stairs and out of the basement.

As they came out of the basement and closed the door behind them, they walked down the hall and from around the corner, a duck boy in a green hoodie ran and bumped right into Chris. Both boys fell onto their rear ends.

"Sorry, I—Chris?!" the duck boy said in surprise.

"Hi, Louie." Chris said, standing up and brushing himself off.

" _CHRIS_!" Louie cried happily, dashing at Chris and hugging him very tightly, Chris hugged him back and then they broke apart and exchanged high-fives, fist bumps and then ended it with a cool back-to-back pose. "Chris, my main man! Welcome back! How was— Who's this?" he asked, noticing Kit.

"Louie, my man," Chris said, putting an arm around Kit's shoulders. "This is my brother, Kit. Kit, this is my friend, Louie."

"So, the long-lost brother finally showed himself, and uh..." Louie said, looking Kit up and down. "That's a cool outfit you've got on." he held out a hand to Kit. "I'm Louie Duck."

"Duck is your name, right? You're not telling me to dodge something, are you?" Kit asked with a smile, and he shook Louie's hand. "I'm Kit, Kit Cloudkicker."

Louie looked bemused while Chris laughed behind his hand.

"He met D.W. at the mall," Chris explained, "he ducked under the table when D.W. said his name."

"Oh!" Louie laughed, now understanding why Chris was laughing. "I was gonna meet you at the mall, but Uncle Donald made me help him reprint the houseboat… So, wanna play video games?"

"I would, but we'd have to explain video games to Kit," Chris said, jerking a thumb towards Kit.

Louie looked at Kit and studied him for a moment. "It's a computer thingy you play games on," Louie said to Kit.

"Okay, now you'll have to explain what a computer is." Chris grinned.

Louie groaned. "But that would take, like, _FOREVER_!"

"Welcome to my world." Chris said, putting an arm around Louie's shoulder.

"So, what _IS_ a computer?" Kit asked, looking from Louie to Chris and back again.

"It's….a device that stores information and data." Chris said slowly, while trying to put a computer into words Kit would understand. "Basically, the computer replaced the typewriter, only instead of typing everything on paper, what you write is stored in the computer until you are ready to print it. You can also watch videos and play games on the computer."

"Ohh, I feel like this is too much to take in…" Kit groaned, massaging his head.

Chris gave Kit a sympathetic look, before turning back to Louie. "Maybe we could play another time. I don't think Kit is ready for our kind of fun yet. I may have to start him off with one of the oldest video games—the original D-tari Ping Pong."

"Whaaat?! Chris, he'll get bored of that game in less than five minutes!" Louie said. "It's the most boring game ever made!"

"If he gets bored of it, I'll work my way up the video game ladder and show him better and better games." Chris said with a shrug.

"Just be careful not to make him addicted to video games," said a voice behind them, making them jump. "Welcome back, Chris. I see you're dressed like Dewey."

Kit turned to see a duck in a red t-shirt and hat.

"HUEY!" Chris cried happily, running to embrace him. They hugged and then Chris pointed Kit out to Huey."Huey, this is my brother, Kit. Kit, meet Huey Duck."

"Your brother? Awesome!" Huey said, he approached Kit and held out a hand. "Nice to finally meet you. You know, every time Chris goes out with your Dad, he's always saying "we'll find him this time for sure!"

"Yeah, and every time he comes back empty-handed, we're the ones who have to cheer him up!" Louie added.

"And that is why you guys are my best friends." Chris said with a grateful smile.

Kit smiled, he was happy for Chris having such good friends. But then, he thought of all of his friends… friends he left behind...tears began to flow before he could stop them. And, not wanting to ruin this moment of reunion for Chris, he quietly slipped away and disappeared.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Hope everyone is enjoying this series so far.**

 **If you want to see what Kit and Chris looks like in their new clothes, go to my profile on** **deviantart under the username KitCloudkicker52885, you will find the picture under the title "Kit and Chris' New Clothes"**

 **Please consider this episode an early Christmas present! Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. The next episode will come sometime in January. So, see ya next year!**

 **Special thanks to my editor, Cyclone Blaze for helping me with the editing process as well as his suggestions on how to describe things better. Cyclone Blaze, gracias, amigo!**


	11. Episode Eleven - Gummi Glen

**Disclaimer: I do not own TaleSpin or any of the other Disney Afternoon shows. If I did, this story would be animated and on my YouTube channel!**

* * *

 **Episode Eleven**  
 **Gummi Glen**

* * *

Kit was lost in the labyrinth of hallways at McDuck Manor. Opening doors along the halls, he only found a dozen bedrooms, a few bathrooms, a library and a study. But still no exit.

"I gave my brother and his friend the slip inside a huge house I know nothing about, so I can be alone for just a minute, only to get lost in these halls! What was I thinking?" Kit said, scolding himself. "How big is this place?" he said to himself, trying a few more doors. "How am I supposed to get out of here? This is like my first week in the Iron Vulture… " He opened a door, revealing a storage room. "Where am I?!" he cried up to the ceiling.

Kit jumped as a sudden voice reached him from somewhere along the hall.,

"Live online, it's Dewey Dew-Night's Dewey Dew-bites digital online contents! With the Dew Crew houseband, Dew That Thang! Hi, I'm your host, Dewey Dew Duck and welcome to another live stream of Dewey Dew-Night!" Kit was confused as he looked around for the source of the voice. "And tonight, I'll…. I'll… Okay look, guys, I've started this live stream, hoping something will come to me, because I've got nothing. I've been grounded since the last streaming, and... I'm still grounded, but that's beside the point…" then he said in a staged whisper: "Don't tell Uncle Scrooge I'm recording!"

As Dewey talked, Kit followed the sound of his voice to a door. He reached for the doorknob as Dewey was still talking and opened it to reveal a duck kid, wearing the exact same clothes that Chris was wearing today. He was talking to a camera from behind a desk with a lime green background.

"AH! Chris, how many times have I told you, knock before barging—wait a second, you're not Chris..." Dewey said, looking at Kit with suspicion as he paused the recording with a remote, pausing the live stream in the process. "Who are you?"

"Uh… I'm Kit, Kit—" Kit said, looking nervous, as if he was seriously considering running away from Dewey, as he thought Dewey sounded a bit insane.

"Cloudkicker? As in the long-lost brother of Chris'? THE Kit Cloudkicker?" Dewey said excitedly. Suddenly, he was by Kit's side, grabbing his arm. "You have got to come on my show as a guest. People are dying to know more about you! I know I am, so whaddya say?"

"I...uh…" Kit said uncertainty, but Dewey pulled him onto the set, seemed like he wasn't taking no for an answer. He forced Kit into the guest seat before retaking his place in the host's seat and with a click of the remote, the camera resumed recording, thus restarting the live stream.

"And….we're back with a surprise guest, who literally just came out of nowhere and barged in on me—Kit Cloudkicker!" Dewey said, gesturing to Kit with both hands. "As you know, the speedster Matthew and my friend, Chris have spent the best part of their lives looking for him, and now, here he sits! So, Kit, would you like to tell the world and your soon-to-be adoring fans, where you been and what you been up to?"

"Uh, what're you doing, and who are you talking to?" Kit asked nervously, looking around and seeing that the room had no real audience.

Dewey laughed a nervous laugh. "Oh, I've no idea that Chris' brother was such a kidder, heh-heh-heh." He lean over the desk and grabbed Kit's collar and pulled him forward so that the two of them were face-to-face. "You're killing my show. Just answer my questions and follow my lead." he whispered. "SO!" he said loudly, throwing Kit back into his seat. "Tell us, where have you been and what's you been up to?"

"Okay, look," Kit said, starting to get irritated with this pushy attitude of Dewey's, getting up from the chair. "If you're not going to help me find a way out of this place, I'll find my own way out and you can get back to… whatever crazy thing you were doing."

"Crazy—? You've never heard of live streaming?" Dewey asked, sounding surprised.

"No, what's that?" Kit asked.

"Oh, boy…" Dewey said, nervously running a hand through his hair. "Uh… I dunno how to tell you this, but, uh… you're kinda being watched by a large number of people right now…"

"...WHAT?!" Kit gasped, looking all around, but as he saw nobody else in the room, he got a little annoyed. "Are you crazy, there's nobody else here! I'm outta here."

"No-no-no!" Dewey said very fast, grabbing Kit's arm. "You're right, there's nobody else in here, but, you see that?" he pointed to the video camera that stood in front of the set, it was connected to Dewey's laptop and on screen, was Kit and Dewey on the set. "People with a computer, tablet or phone are watching this through that camera, so you kinda have an invisible audience…."

Kit froze, and then he gulped. "H-how many people are watching?"

"Eh, just a few hundreds, give or take a few." Dewey said, shrugging.

"How are hundreds of people watching this right now?" Kit asked, watching himself on the screen of the laptop and noticing how nervous he looked, he put on a brave grin.

"It's just how live streaming works," Dewey said. "I open a live stream video, get on camera and boom! People are watching me on various devices."

"Just like that? Wow, that sounds really neat!" Kit said in awe, he had so many questions, it was overwhelming, but he didn't want to make himself sound stupid, so he refrained from asking a million questions. "So what do I have to do?"

"Just sit there and talk to me, answer my questions and, uh…" Dewey said, noticing that Kit was still looking in awe at the camera and laptop. He snapped his fingers in Kit's ear to get his attention. "Hey, look at me, not at the camera."

Kit turned his face towards Dewey, but his eyes kept drifting to the side towards the camera and laptop.

"So," Dewey said, deciding to ignore Kit's drifting eyes. "First question, where have you been all these years? You were one tough cookie to track down. Even our highly advanced trackers couldn't find you! How did you managed to slip beneath the radar?"

"Um…I don't know, I mean…" Kit paused to think. "I.. I guess it was because I was a drifter for a few years, moving from hangar town to hangar town. I grew up in Freeport and I've been in all of its surrounding towns. And then, I ended up in Cape Suzette."

"Wow, Cape Suzette and Freeport are very far from each other, even by planes!" Dewey exclaimed. "You must've done a lot of traveling to get that far!"

"Yeah…" Kit muttered, deciding not to tell Dewey that his days as an air pirate played a big role in how he got to Cape Suzette.

"You know, my brothers and I tried to visit Cape Suzette once, I even got the houseboat started and everything! But we were thwarted by our Uncle Donald. So, tell us about your life in Cape Suzette, what do you do there?"

"Well, I do most of the things any kid would do; I go to school, I hang out with friends and I work as a navigator for Miss Cu—" Kit broke off as a sudden overwhelming emotion overtook him. He whimpered a little, tears running down his cheek, "Miss Cu….Miss Cu…." He tried to swallow his emotion and keep on talking, but he couldn't get rid of the large emotional lump in throat.

"Hey, are you alright?" Dewey asked, sounding concerned as he stopped the camera remotely.

"I'm sorry!" Kit cried, dashing out of his seat to the door, he grabbed the doorknob, but it was locked. "Let me out!"

Dewey walked around his desk and over to Kit, placing his hands on Kit's shoulder. "Hey, man, what's wrong?"

"I'm fine!" Kit snapped, tears flying from his eyes. "I just want to get out of this room!"

"C'mon, man, you are not fine," Dewey said firmly, taking Kit's arm and leading him to a sofa on the opposite side of the room and made him sit down. He then sat down beside him and patted him on the back. "If I triggered some bad memories, I am so sorry. Do you wanna talk about it? It might make you feel better to get it off your chest."

Kit looked away, sniffed and wiped his nose on his sleeve. "Not really…"

"That's okay," Dewey said gently. "If you don't wanna talk about it, that's fine. I'm saying it might make you feel better if you do. Why don't you try it?"

"Look, why do you care?" Kit asked in his tough guy act.

"You're Chris' brother and he's my friend. I just feel like I owe it to my friend to help his brother out."

Kit's wall came crashing down, he let out a sob and threw himself onto Dewey, crying into his shoulder. Dewey, clearly startled, patted Kit very awkwardly on the back.

"I want my world back!" Kit sobbed. "I want Miss Cunningham, Molly, Wildcat and all of my friends back!"

"Wait, what?" Dewey said, pushing Kit at arm's length. "What about our world? What happened to our world?!"

"GONE!" Kit screamed in anguish "They're all gone! The Shadow-thingies overtook it!"

Dewey gasped, looking devastated. "Oh no… oh no, oh no! This can't be happening!" He dashed over to his laptop and searched the map of space for their home world. "Please let the moon still be there, please let the moon still be there!" On screen, there was no earth and no moon. "No…!" he said in a devastated hushed voice. "No! Mom, no…" he bowed his head in grief, his forehead touching the screen.

Then, in a fit of sudden grief-stricken rage, Dewey picked up his laptop and slammed it down onto the floor, smashing it to bits before putting his head down on the desk with his arms around his head, shaking with sobs.

"Why?! WHY?! We only just had her back for a year and now she's gone again!" Dewey screamed, picking up his camera and throwing it across the room, where it smashed against the opposite wall. He then slumped down on his chair, his head bowed. "I knew that moon mission was a bad idea!"

Even in his own state of grief, Kit still felt compelled to comfort Dewey. He walked over to him and hugged him. The two boys were now hugging each other and crying into each other's shoulders.

There was a click as the door came unlocked, the door opened and there stood Scrooge, looking sterned.

"What in blazes is going on in here?" he demanded. "What's all this racket?!" he gasped as he spotted the smashed laptop and the smashed camera. "What happened here? I—Dewey, Kit?" it was then that he spotted the boys in an embrace and crying onto each other, and his stern face melted like ice cream. He walked over to them and hugged them both. "What's wrong, lads?"

"Oh, Uncle Scrooge!" Dewey cried, burying face in Scrooge's chest. "It's terrible! Our world is gone… and so is my Mom!"

Scrooge was stunned, looking devastated. "Della? Gone? No... no, not again..."

Kit pulled himself out of the embrace and backed out of the room, intending to give Dewey and his uncle privacy to grieve.

Out in the hall, Kit began to run, turned a corner and ran right into Chris.

"Oof!" Chris grunted as Kit bumped into him, he started to fall backwards, but he quickly wrapped his arms around Kit's torso to keep them both from falling down. "Whoa! Kit, don't go disappearing on me like that! You had me worried!"

"Sorry… I just wanted to be alone… I tried to go home, but I got lost in this labyrinth you call a house!" Kit said exasperatedly. "C'mon, let's go home. Where's the way out?"

"What's that?" Huey asked, he and Louie were both there with Chris. "Is that Dewey crying?" he sounded concerned as he and Louie followed the sound of Dewey crying to the room Kit had just left.

Chris started to follow them, but Kit pulled him back.

"C'mon, I want to go home...please…" Kit said pleadingly. "Where's the front door?"

"Okay, okay," Chris said, turning to the opposite direction. "It's this way." he said as he led Kit down the wall. "But you're going to tell me what happened to make Dewey cry."

"I… kinda told him our world was taken by darkness and he somehow found out that the moon that his Mom was on is also gone," Kit said, starting to cry himself.. "So he just lost his Mom…"

"Oh my gosh!" Chris gasped, looking shocked. "Kit, I have to be there for my friends, I'll help you out of the house, and then I'm going to go and comfort my friends."

"Okay, I understand…" Kit said quietly, trying to hold himself together. He followed Chris through the house and before he knew it, they were at the front door.

"Here you go." Chris said, opening the front door for Kit. "I'll see you at home later, tell Dad I may be a little late tonight." And then he walked back through the house and disappeared around the corner.

Kit left McDuck Manor and went over to the park, sat under a large oak tree and wept. As he cried into his drawn-up knees, he whimpered the names of all his friends, starting with Rebecca, Molly, Wildcat, Louie and his fellow Jungle Aces members, ending with a cry of: "I WANT MY WORLD BACK!"

As Kit leaned back against the large tree, suddenly a secret door in the tree opened up and Kit cried out as he fell through the hole and slid down a wooden slide that twisted and turned and did one loop-de-loop before he came out into a medieval-style wooden kitchen, crashing into a cupboard, hitting his head and blacking out.

When Kit awoke, he was lying on his back, covered in the contents of the cupboard, which was mostly food. And as he opened his eyes, he saw an obese blue teenage bear with a indigo nose, aqua muzzle, red cap with an orange feather on top and brown clothing standing over him, looking down on him with concern.

"Ohh, my head…" Kit moaned, reaching up to rub his head.

"Hey, you alright?" the teenage bear asked in a soft-spoken voice, offering Kit a hand and pulling him up out of the wreckage.

"Y-yeah, I think so…" Kit said, he glanced back at the mess he made. "Um, sorry about the mess..."

"It's okay, though I can't say Gruffi will be happy about this..." the teenage bear said, holding out a hand for Kit to shake. "I'm Tummi."

Looking Tummi up and down, Kit thought the name fitted him, but thought it would be rude to say so, so he just shook Tummi's hand.

"I'm Kit, Kit Cloudkicker."

Tummi smiled. "So you're Chris' brother… nice to finally meet ya."

"Tummi dear, are you alright?" said a voice, and a chubby orange she-bear with red hair, wearing an aqua dress and a white apron walked into the kitchen, looking anxious. "I heard a crash, and—oh, Tummi! What a mess!" she gasped, looking around at the food that covered the floor around the broken cupboard.

"It wasn't me, Grammi, honest." Tummi said timidly.

"Well, don't tell me the goblins did it…" Grammi muttered.

"Um...actually... it was me." Kit spoke up. "I fell down the slide and crash into your cupboard. Sorry."

"Oh my! Are you alright, dear?" Grammi asked, going into full concerned mother mode, going over to Kit and removing his cap to examine his head for any bumps and knots. "Where does it hurt, dear?"

Kit was startled by how fussy Grammi was over him, as she combed her fingers through his hair in search of any bumps that might be on his head.

Finally, he gently pushed her away and took back his cap. "I appreciate the concern, really." he said kindly. "But I'm fine… I'm okay."

"Well if you're sure, why don't you help me with lunch, seeing as you already got the food out." Grammi said, gesturing to the food that had spilled out of the cupboard all over the floor. Thankfully, most of the food was in containers, jars and bags, so there wasn't a lot of food wasted..

"I'll help too, Grammi." Tummi offered eagerly, raising his hand.

"Uh, no, thank you, Tummi, but uh…" Grammi turned to Kit. "Pardon me, dear, but what's your name?"

"Kit, ma'am." Kit replied politely. "Kit Cloudkicker."

Grammi turned back to Tummi. "Thank you, Tummi, but Kit and I got it covered. Why don't you go find Cubbi and see what he's up to?"

Looking rejected, Tummi said. "Okay, Grammi..." and he left the kitchen with his head bowed.

As Tummi left the kitchen, Grammi turned to find that Kit was already cleaning up, picking up jars and containers of food.

"I'm surprised these jars didn't break when they hit the floor." Kit said, holding up a jar and staring at it in awe.

"Yeah," Grammi said. "Master Mickey was so kind to use his magic on those to make them unbreakable. He has done so much for us and we're really happy to be living in a world where we no longer have to live in hiding."

'"Wow, that's really neat!" Kit said as he picked up more jars and containers and setting them on the kitchen table. "Why were you in hiding?"

"People coveted our technology, magic and Gummiberry Juice," Grammi said sadly. "People would do anything to get their hands on them, they were even willing to hold some Gummi Bears hostage, torture them or even threaten their lives for those things. So the ancient Gummis went into hiding and we've been in hiding ever since, until Master Mickey offered us a new home where we didn't have to hide anymore. We accepted and he transported Gummi Glen, this place, here. We've been here for centuries now."

"Wow, that must've been hard, to be living in hiding." Kit said. "And you've been here for centuries? How is it that Tummi still look young and you don't look a day older than thirty-nine?"

"Oh my!" Grammi said, blushing out of feeling flattered. "You're so sweet, Kit," she said, patting Kit's cheek lovingly. "Well, there's a powerful spell on the D-Star that keeps its occupants from aging. Our aging process is halted as long as we're inside the D-Star. One could stay young and live forever in here."

"But, if Chris and his friends have been here since they were seven, how are they older now?" Kit asked, looking confused.

"Your age is only halted for as long as you're inside the D-Star," Grammi explained. "If you keep your stay at the D-Star short and go out on missions and other world adventures, your aging will continue from where it left off when you leave the D-Star."

"So if Chris' been in and out of this place for five years, that means…" Kit said, smiling mischievously. "That means that Chris is actually few months younger than me now, maybe even half a year younger!"

"Yes, dear, that sounds about right." Grammi agreed.

Kit smiled to himself as he continued to pick up jars and containers. Once done, he looked for broken shelves in the pantry, he picked up a piece of broken lumber that was part of the shelf.

"I'm so sorry about this. I didn't mean to destroy your pantry… I wish I could fix this for you."

"Don't worry about it, dear." Grammi said, smiling fondly at Kit while placing a hand on his shoulder. "Gruffi really needed to fix that door you fell through for a while now, so it's not your fault. Would you like to stay for lunch?"

"Uh, no thanks, I-I don't want to be a bother…"

"Nonsense, you're not a bother," Grammi said, smiling. "It would be my pleasure to have you here for lunch."

"O-okay, if you insist…" Kit said.

"I'll need time to fix lunch, so why don't I take you to meet Cubbi, I'm sure he'd like to meet the brother of Chris."

"Sure, I'd like to meet another one of Chris' friends. Where is he?" Kit asked.

The door to the kitchen swung open and there stood a small and slender pink bear cub with a peach muzzle, red nose, indigo beret with a red feather on it, red and yellow shirt with a gray collar.

"I'm right here," the pink bear said. He was carrying a red costume with a matching hat on top. "Grammi, could you wash these for me?" he said, walking over to Grammi and holding the costume out to her.

"Of course, Cubbi dear," Grammi said, taking the costume into her arms. "But, I thought you were done with the Crimson Avenger."

"I am, but Chris wants it for some reason, so I'm giving it to him." Cubbi said, shrugging. "Good thing it's elastic, so it can fit any sizes, or it'd be too small for him."

"Well, that's nice of you, Cubbi dear." Grammi said, smiling. "But why does he want this?"

"I don't know, he only said he had a feeling he might need it later." Cubbi said, shrugging. "I don't really care either way. I haven't wore these in years."

Kit stared at Cubbi, finding it odd that the line "I haven't wore these in years" was coming from the mouth of a small kid. He could not imagine what it was like to be a kid for centuries.

"Okay, Cubbi, I'll wash them," Grammi said. "But in the meantime, why don't you give Kit a tour around Gummi Glen and introduce him to everyone?"

"Okay, c'mon Kit!" Cubbi said, grabbing Kit's hand and pulling him from the kitchen.

Out in the hall, Cubbi led Kit to a door at the opposite end of the hall. "C'mon, this way!"

Cubbi opened the door to reveal a tunnel with a series of wooden tracks and there in front of them was an eagle-headed cart.

"Wow, what is this place?" Kit asked, looking around at all the twists, loops and turns the tracks had.

"This is the Quick Tunnel," Cubbi said, getting into the eagle headed cart. "C'mon, get in."

Kit got in and Cubbi buckled them both in. After that, he pulled the lever and the cart shot forward. Kit yelled and whooped as they went through the tunnel in spiral loops, sharp turns and twists.

"Whoa! That was fun!" Kit exclaimed joyfully as the cart came to a halt at the end of the tunnel. "I can't wait to ride that again."

"Don't worry, you'll get another ride," Cubbi said as he and Kit got out of the cart. "We'll have to ride it back to the glen."

Cubbi then led Kit from the tunnel to another hallway with a dozen doors on either side. He then opened a door to reveal a brown teenage bear wearing an aqua blue shirt with yellow sleeves and collar. The teenage boy was wielding a bamboo sword, fighting a bunch of scarecrows.

"Hey, Cavin!" Cubbi yelled. "Come and meet Chris' brother, Kit."

Cavin stopped and turned to look at them, he then smiled and walked over to them. "So, the long-lost brother finally showed himself."

"I wasn't lost, exactly…" Kit said, looking a little sheepish, rubbing the back of his head. "I've just been purposely hard to find…"

Cavin frowned. "Why would you be purposely hard to find?"

"It was partly for survival and partly trying to remain free," Kit said, shrugging. "Growing up in an orphanage makes you feel trapped and the opposite of free."

"Sounds pretty much like us." Cavin said. "We had to move or hide to live without trouble because of bad people. But even if we were safe, we have felt trapped because we couldn't go out freely, fearing for our safety."

"So," Kit said, gesturing to the scarecrows. "What are you training for?"

"I'm training to become a Dedi Knight," Cavin declared, striking a swordsman pose with his bamboo sword.

"Shouldn't be too hard. I mean, my brother is a Dedi student." Kit said, but Cavin shook his head.

"Chris is very gifted to become a Dedi student under Master Mickey," Cavin said. "Becoming a Dedi student under Master Mickey is more complicated than that. There are difficult trials and tests you have to pass to even get into Dedi Academy."

"Yeah," Cubbi said. "They only take the very best!"

"We haven't been able get in yet, and we've been here for years!" said Cavin. "But Master Mickey always tell us to keep trying and someday, we'll be Dedi Knights!"

"Um…" Kit said, frowning at the row of scarecrows Cavin had been beating up with the bamboo sword. "I'm not sure attacking a defenseless scarecrow that can't fight back is the best way to train to become a Dedi, or any kind of swordsman for that matter."

"Why'd you say that?" asked Cavin, sounding like he was dreading the knowledge that he wasted too much time with this same training routine he'd done for years.

"I've...had some sword training in the past," Kit said, deciding not to tell them who trained him in swordsmanship. "All attacking an inanimate object does for you is build up your upper body strength, but not your skills."

"You wanna put your money where your mouth is?" Cavin said, sounding a little frustrated, holding his sword to Kit in a challenging manner.

"What?! No, I..." Kit said, feeling that there had been some kind of misunderstanding. "I-I mean, I don't have a sword and we don't have to—WAH!" he cried out as another bamboo sword was tossed to him by Cubbi.

"There's no going back now, Cloudkicker." Cavin said, his eyes narrowed. "You and I are going to dance."

"But I don't want to—AAHH!" Kit cried as Cavin rushed in on him and jumped up into the air before swinging his sword down on Kit. Kit quickly brought his sword up to protect himself and Cavin's sword clashed with his. "Stop it, I don't want to fight you!"

"Too late, we're fighting." Cavin said coldly, pressing down hard on his sword to add pressure against Kit's sword, causing the bear cub to strain under the effort of pushing Cavin's sword back.

"Alright, fine!" Kit snapped as he gave Cavin's blade an almighty shove with his own, ducked around him and shoved Cavin in the back with the palm of his hand.

Cavin stumbled but managed to regain his balance, whirled around and charged at Kit again. Kit guarded against Cavin's blade with his own and then quickly circled around Cavin and shoved him in the back again, causing Cavin to fall face-first to the ground and his sword to fly out of his hand. Cavin got back up, only to find the tip of Kit's blade inches from his nose.

Cavin bowed his head in surrender. "I give up, you win."

Kit lowered his blade with a smile and offered Cavin his hand, which Cavin grasped. Kit pulled Cavin to his feet.

"That was… not terrible," Kit said, not wanting to offend Cavin. "You had a lot of power behind your blade that would have broke through a less experienced swordsman's guard, but you need more experience and practice, but with a real sparring partner, not just these scarecrows, they'll do nothing for you at this point."

"Thanks, but where did you learn to fight like that?" Cavin asked.

Kit had a momentary flashback of himself with Don Karnage, Karnage teaching him how to hold a sword, pose with it and fight and defend with it. His flashback self didn't have the baseball cap he wore nowadays, instead he wore the red pirate scarf around his neck. Karnage was enjoying teaching Kit, as it gave him the chance to show off his greatness, whereas Kit was just putting up with it in order to learn more self-defense.

Kit shook his head vigorously, ending the flashback. "Um, I had some lessons and uh…. a capable teacher…" he said, avoiding the word "good", not wanting to put the "good" label on Karnage in any way, shape or form.

"Great, maybe you can teach me and Cubbi," Cavin said eagerly. "We need better sword techniques in order to pass the Dedi Academy entrance exam."

Cubbi got very excited at the idea. "Yeah! Please teach us, Kit! We just gotta be Dedi Knights! We've tried so hard for so long to get in, but we always failed because the enemy replicas always beat us!"

Kit could hear the frustration in little Cubbi's voice and could not help but sympathize his and Cavin's dilemma.

"Well, I guess I could show you a few moves, but I need to see what level you guys are on first," Kit offered, holding up the wooden sword and going into a stance with it. "Alright, Cubbi, you come at me with everything you got!"

Cubbi let out a yell and charged at Kit, who deflected Cubbi's blade with his own and then sidestepped around him and pushed him in the back with foot, causing the small pink bear to fall onto his face!

"Hey, what gives?!" Cubbi said angrily, getting slowly to his feet, rubbing his bruised face. "I did what you said!"

"You really shouldn't charge so blindly at your opponent," Kit said seriously. "You leave yourself wide open. Now try again, and this time let us attack in slow motion, so I can teach you between moves."

Cubbi and Kit clashed swords in slow motion, Cubbi dabbed his sword towards Kit twice and twice, Kit blocked it with a downward swing.

"Good! Now bring it up and down and around... Defend and attack, just keep switching between the two." Kit said. "Very good. Now repeat fast!"

Cubbi and Kit repeated their previous actions with their full speed, ending with an echoing clash of the swords, ending in a draw.

"Good!" Kit said with a smile. "That was a lot better."

Cubbi drew back his sword and looked at it in wonder. "Oh...I get it now...I've been doing it wrong for years and now I know better! Thanks, Kit!"

"No problem, kiddo." Kit said kindly, rubbing the top of Cubbi's head, pushing his blue hat down to his eyes. Kit then turned to Cavin and lifted his sword, challenging him. "Now, let's see what you can do."

"Oh, you're gonna see what I can do alright…" Cavin said with a confident smirk.

The two preteen bear cubs stared down each other, before each of them let out a warcry and charged at each other.

The two bamboo swords clashed, and the two young fighters strained as they pushed hard against each other's sword. Finally, Cavin pulled out of the power struggle and tried to trip Kit by going for his leg, but Kit blocked the attack and tried to disarm Cavin by going for his wrist. However, Cavin saw it coming and pulled his wrist out of the way so Kit's sword clashed with his sword instead.

"Wow, you're better than I thought!" Kit said, grinning as they went into another power struggle with the swords.

Cavin smiled as he strained against Kit's sword. "Thanks, so are you."

The fight went on for a few more minutes, with each fighter striking and also blocking their opponent, all the while Cubbi cheered for Cavin. Finally, Cavin put a lot of power behind his assault on Kit's sword, breaking it in half!

"Looks like I win." Cavin said, pointing the tip of his blade at Kit's nose, stepping into a coils of rope in the process.

Noticing this, Kit grinned. "You'd think so, wouldn't you?"

"Huh?" Cavin said, just as Kit stepped around him, grabbed the end of the rope and pulled, causing the coil to tighten around Cavin's ankle, causing him to fall and hit the floor, his sword flying out of his hand. As he freed himself from the rope and was just about to get up, when he found the tip of his own blade pointing right at him, behind the sword was Kit, smiling down at him.

"Looks like the table turned on you." Kit said, grinning.

"Hey, no fair!" Cavin complained. "I had you!"

"All is fair in love and war," Kit said, putting way the sword and offering Cavin a hand. "But yeah, that was really close, you almost had me there."

"Well, just as long as you admit it…" Cavin said grudgingly, as he took Kit's hand and was pulled to his feet. "Hey, you were a pirate at one point, were you?"

"What? Uh…. wh-what makes you say that?" Kit asked nervously.

"The way you hold the sword, the way you wield it and the way you swept a victory right out from under me," Cavin said. "Those are the style of a pirate. So I'm guessing you were one, to be taught by this "capable teacher" of yours."

"Uh…" Kit said, who was starting to sweat. "My teacher was..."

"Hey, relax, Kit." Cavin said, placing his hands on Kit's shoulders. "Even if you were a pirate, you're not a pirate now, or at least, you're not a bad guy pirate."

"H-how can you be sure of that?" Kit asked in surprise, he was expecting to be kicked right out of Gummi Glen for his past association with the Air Pirates.

"Simple, there's some kind of spell or force on this Star that banishes all evil, so if you had evil intentions, you'd be blown right outta here." Cavin revealed.

"Well, I wasn't a pirate because I wanted to be one," Kit said, wanting to make himself clear. "I joined the pirates because I wanted food, shelter, adventures and most of all, planes."

"Relax, no one's judging you... Wait, what?" Cavin said, looking puzzled. "Planes? Pirates had planes? I thought they mostly have big ships and boats."

"Not the Air Pirates," Kit said with grin. "They have this big flying fortress that houses all of their planes."

"Like a big flying aircraft carrier?" Cavin asked.

Kit thought for a moment and then said. "Yeah… I guess you could say that."

"Now that I gotta see!" Cavin said with an excited grin.

"What's it like being a pirate?" Cubbi asked. "Is it really all fun and treasure hunting?"

Oh, boy… Kit thought in dismay. This kid is in for a rude awakening if that's his idea of pirates...

Fortunately for Kit, he didn't have to spoil the moment by educating Cubbi on the dangers of pirates, because Grammi turned up with a picnic basket hanging from her arm.

"Cubbi, Cavin, lunch!" she called, walking into their training area and setting the basket down on the floor. "I've made you all sandwiches." she said, opening the basket and handing out the sandwiches.

"Oh boy! I'm starving!" Cubbi said happily, snatching his sandwich and taking a big bite out of it. "Thanks, Grammi!"

"Yeah, thanks, Grammi." Cavin said, accepting his sandwich a little more gracefully and taking smaller bite out of it than Cubbi in a show of politeness.

"You're welcome, sweethearts." Grammi said, smiling. She then turned to Kit. "Kit dear, I didn't know what you liked, but I made you Chris' favorite sandwich—peanut butter and strawberry jelly. It may not be YOUR favorite, but I hope you like it just the same."

"That sounds good! Thanks, Grammi." Kit said, accepting his sandwich and taking a bit of it. "Hm! This is good! But I prefer grape jelly."

Grammi smiled. "Alright, dear, I'll remember that next time." she then took out her own sandwich and began to eat with the boys. When they were finished, she stood up. "Alright, dears, today is berry-picking day, and I'll need you two to come and help me pick the berries." she said to Cubbi and Cavin, then she turned to Kit. "You can help too, Kit dear."

"Aw, do I have to?" Cavin whined, not wanting to use the Quick tunnel.

"Yes, Cavin," Grammi said firmly. "You're a Gummi Bear, and Gummi Bears—"

"...pick Gummiberries," Cavin finished for her. "I know, I know,,, I just wish it didn't involve that evil car."

"Come on, you two, those Gummiberries aren't going to pick themselves," Grammi said. "and Master Mickey has already ordered a batch of Gummiberry Juice so he can turn it into Gummiberry Beans. You can come help too, Kit dear."

"Huh? Oh okay, I'd be glad to help out." Kit said, smiling, following Grammi to the Quick car, followed by Cubbi and Cavin, Cavin bringing up the rear, clearly not keen on getting in the Quick car. Kit couldn't see why as they got in the car and shot forward down the tunnel. Kit screamed with thrilling joy, while Cavin screamed in fear.

"For heaven's sake, Cavin," Grammi scolded him as they reached their destination and were getting out of the car. "You should be used to the car after hundreds of years of living here."

Kit looked back at Cavin in amazement, and again he could not imagine what it would be like to be a kid for hundreds of years, never able to age.

"Sorry, Grammi," Cavin said faintly. "But I'll never get used to this evil car."

"I thought it was fun!" Kit said happily. "I'd ride this car anytime, it's actually better than my Dad's driving."

"Funny, Chris said the same thing!" Cubbi said, getting out of the car.

"Well, we are twins…" Kit pointed out.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean you're not your own person." Cubbi said, shrugging. "Everyone is different, even twins."

"Yeah, you're right." Kit said as they climbed up the upward slope to a cave opening and walked through it to the outside air. And there in front of them was a big greenhouse full of rows and rows of berry bushes. Kit had never seen so many different colors of berries before in his life!

Outside the greenhouse was a slender light brown bear with a tan muzzle and brown nose. He wore a green hat and a yellow shirt. He also wore a grumpy expression as he packed up his toolbox.

"Hey, Gruffi!" Cubbi greeted the grumpy-looking bear. "You fixed the sprinklers?"

"Yeah, the bushes should be getting their water now." Gruffi said proudly, he looked up and noticed Kit. "And who's this?"

"This is Kit Cloudkicker, Chris' brother." Cubbi said. "Kit, this is Gruffi,"

"Nice to meet you, Gruffi," Kit said, holding out a hand to Gruffi for a handshake.

Instead of taking the handshake, Gruffi huffed and turned his back on Kit. "Hmpt, and what is he doing here?"

"You behave, Gruffi Gummi," Grammi growled. "This polite young man has agreed to help us with the berry-picking."

"Berry-picking is the job of the Gummi Bears, he is not a Gummi." Gruffi said firmly. "I had Mickey to recast the spell on the doorway that only lets Gummi Bears in."

Grammi ignored this and beckoned Kit forward. "Come on in, Kit dear, after you."

"No, no, after you." Kit said, walking past her and giving her a polite bow.

"Oh my, what a polite young man!" Grammi said, patting Kit's cheek before walking into the greenhouse.

"Hmpt! Why don't you just pick up every stranger in the streets and give them a full tour to Gummi Glen and full access to our Gummiberry bushes?" Gruffi asked sarcastically.

"Maybe I will, Gruffi Gummi," Grammi snapped."There's an Evil Banishment spell on this Star, anyone with malice or evil intentions is instantly expelled from the Star and sent someplace else. There's no reason to distrust anyone here!"

"You don't know that. For all you know, the spell could be faulty and prone fail." Gruffi argued. "Never place too much reliance on anything."

"Does that includes you, Gruffi?" Grammi said slyly.

"Ha-ha, very funny…" Gruffi growled, unamused.

"Come along, kids, those berries aren't going to pick themselves, you know." Grammi said, beckoning them to follow her into the greenhouse.

Cubbi, Cavin and Kit followed after Grammi, each carrying an empty berry basket, with Kit bringing up the rear. When he stepped over the threshold with no resistance, Gruffi's jaw dropped.

"Hey! How are you—?" Gruffi began, but he was cut off by Grammi.

"For heaven's sake, Gruffi, leave the boy alone and let him pick the berries with us!"

"Fine, fine," Gruffi said grumpily, picking up a berry basket himself. "But I'll join you to keep an eye on him."

Each of them picked their own berrybush, set their baskets down and began picking the berries. After a few minutes of picking the berries and dropping them in his basket, Kit became curious about each of the different color berries and wondered if they tasted differently from the others. But he didn't want to sneak a couple into his mouth, as Gruffi sat a row behind him, watching his every move as he picked the berries.

"Um, Grammi?" Kit said, raising his hand.

"Yes, Kit dear?"

"M-may I... try a few berries? I wanna know what they taste like."

Grammi smiled warmly, evidently pleased that Kit had thought to ask her first. "Of course you can, but only a few, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am." Kit said, he then turned back to his bush, picked up a red berry and popped it into his mouth. He chewed with a thoughtful expression. "Hmm, tastes like strawberry." He tried the purple berry. "Hmm, grape!" He picked a blue berry. "Mm! Oh wow, the blue berry tastes… like blueberries…" he sampled the green berry next. "Hmm… green apple?" he next picked an orange berry and looked at it anxiously. "Please don't be carrot, please don't be carrot…" he pleaded as he brought the berry to his mouth. As he chewed it up, his eyes popped open in surprise. "No way… orange berries tastes like oranges?!"

"What's the matter, don't like oranges?" Gruffi said from behind him.

"N-no! I love oranges, I just didn't expect that taste in a berry." Kit explained as he picked up the yellow berry and ate it. "Mmm, pineapple, yummy!"

"Good, you've had your snack, now get back to picking berries!" Gruffi griped at him.

"Gruffi Gummi, leave the child alone and pay attention to what you're doing!" Grammi yelled at him from her own bush. "You're picking the leaves off the bushes instead of the berries, you know."

"What?!" Gruffi yelped in shock. He looked down into his basket and saw that he had more leaves in his basket than berries. He smacked himself over the head. "Of all the idiotic…" he grumbled to himself as he returned to picking berries, this time paying more attention to what he was doing.

After a few hours of picking Gummiberries, they now had five whole baskets of berries.

"Alright, everyone, that's enough berries for today." Grammi said as she called the halt to the berry-picking. "Time to pack 'em up."

Kit, Cubbi, Cavin and Gruffi picked up their baskets, carried them out of the greenhouse and loaded them into the side compartments of the Quick car.

"There, all loaded up and ready to go." Gruffi said, slamming the lid of the compartment shut. Then he turned to Grammi. "Just don't go teaching this one to make Gummiberry juice like you did with the last one."

"At least Chris is a reliable juice maker who can take my place when I'm down and out." Grammi retorted.

"Yeah, and that's great and all, but one's enough." Gruffi said firmly.

Kit looked over at that them. "You taught Chris to make some juice? What kind of juice is this?"

"Never you mind, kid, that's top Gummi secret." Gruffi said gruffly.

Kit looked at Grammi, who nodded sadly. "I'm afraid he's right, sweetheart, the less you know about Gummiberry juice the better, unless you're a Gummi Bear or a Dedi."

This, of course, made Kit even more curious. But he did not beg to know, because he knew the importance of keeping a few secrets. Instead he smiled, and said: "Okay" and climbed into the Quick car and off they went, back to Gummi Glen. He then helped the Gummi Bears carry their berries in and he helped them sort the berries by color.

Finally finished with his task, he stood up from his seat. "I can't thank you guys enough" he said, smiling at all the Gummi Bears around him. "Earlier, I was really down, thinking about all the people I left behind when I came here. Letting me help you pick your berries helped me sort out my thoughts and feelings. Sure, I'll always miss them, but they would not want me to feel sad all the time." he finished with a sad smile.

"Oh you poor dear!" Grammi cried, dashing at Kit and hugging him and as she did so, Kit was suddenly overwhelmed by emotion and started to sob into her shoulder. She did not seem to mind, as she kept hugging Kit consolingly.

"I-I'm sorry," Kit sobbed. "I miss them... Miz Cunningham…. Molly….Wildcat... Louie….Ernie and the guys… Why couldn't we save them?!"

"Oh there, there, you poor child…" Grammi said, looking like she wanted to cry as she consoles Kit. "We know exactly what that's like. We had to leave people behind to come here too. There wasn't enough time to get everyone together….and we had to leave….without them…." she sniffed, starting to cry herself.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get you down too!" Kit cried, pulling himself out of Grammi's hug and starting to run. But he was stopped by Gruffi placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, calm down, kid," he said in a gruff but gentle tone. "Come with me."

Gruffi then took Kit from the kitchen and walked him down the long halls of Gummi Glen, talking to him.

"Listen kid, I can't say I know how you feel, but I know what you're going through." Gruffi said, walking beside Kit with his arm around Kit's shoulders. "As Grammi said, we've had friends that we had to leave behind. Our world was in the process of being destroyed, Master Mickey tried to save our world, but he couldn't, it was too late. He offered to take us to safety and bring us here. And as Grammi said, we didn't have time to get everyone together to transport them here with us. It was either us or nobody at all." As Gruffi spoke, it was clear to Kit that the brown Gummi Bear was hurting as he told this story to him. "We're all that's left of our world. We had to take everyone and everything we could and get out of there… leaving a lot of good people behind…" Gruffi sniffed and wiped his nose on his forearm.

They stopped walking and Kit placed a hand on Gruffi's shoulder. "How do you get over that?"

"Who says we're over it, kid?" Gruffi said gruffly with tears in his eyes. "We're never over it, even after all these years! We never will be over it."

"I-I'm sorry, I mean... How do you go on after that?" Kit said, feeling more related to Gruffi now that he had opened up to him with this story.

"One day at a time, kid." Gruffi said simply. "We still think about them, we still miss them. But now we live everyday of our lives as a tribute to them, That's the advice I can give you: Honor your lost friends with your life. Allow them to live on in you, right here." Gruffi added, placing a hand on Kit's chest, over his heart.

Kit seemed overawed as he slowly placed his hands over his heart. He gave an emotional laugh before throwing himself unto Gruffi, hugging him tightly.

"Thanks, Gruffi!" he sobbed happily, now being comforted by the memory of his friends instead of being depressed by it..

"You're welcome, kid." Gruffi said with an emotional smile, patting Kit on the back.

When they broke apart, Kit was feeling much better. Gruffi then opened up one of their many exits and allowed Kit to climb through, out of Gummi Glen.

"Hey, Kit." Gruffi called out to him from within the hole Kit had just climbed out of. "You didn't hear it from me, but you're welcome here anytime." he said, doing his best not to sound too happy about it, but failing at it.

"Thanks, Gruffi," Kit said, walking away while waving back at Gruffi. "And thanks for that talk, it made me feel better."

Gruffi just grinned and waved before disappearing back into the glen.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **I'm so sorry for the long wait for the release of this episode. No, it wasn't writer's block, it wasn't lack of inspirations. In fact, I have ideas and concepts that will be in future episodes. But those who want something to blame for the delay, just to get the torches and pitchforks moving in the right direction... BLAME KINGDOM HEARTS III! I've spent hours on that addictive game! ...And you can blame me for putting the gaming over writing….DON'T KILL ME!**

 **All jokes aside, stay tuned for the next episode!**

 **If you remember Cavin from the Adventures of the Gummi Bears as a human twelve-year-old boy and are wondering what he's doing here as a Gummi Bear, don't worry, that was intentional and it will be explained in later episodes.**

 **Special thanks to my editor, Cyclone Blaze for editing this episode for me.**


	12. Episode Twelve: The Sea Duck

**Disclaimer: I do not own TaleSpin or anything of the Disney Afternoon.**

* * *

 **Episode Twelve**

 **The Rebirth of the** _ **Sea Duck**_

* * *

Two weeks after Kit and Baloo arrived at D-Star, they have been slowly but steadily adjusting to life at the D-Star, being introduced to more and more modern technologies and comfort. And during the two weeks he'd been there, Kit had been going out with his brother, Chris, to the bookstore, where Kit bought himself a few books on planes and a few exciting and thrilling-looking comicbooks with his mall gift card, which worked at the bookstore outside the mall too. They went to the movies, to the arcade, to the park, to the skatepark and finally, Chris felt it was safe to take Kit back to the mall, feeling that he had been introduced to enough things and that he would not freak out to things at the mall.

While at the mall, Chris led Kit to Gyro's Tech store, feeling it was safe this time to take Kit there, and it helped that his Dad wasn't there with them.

In the tech store, Gyro's face was everywhere, on every product, every price tag and he appeared with a speech bubble with a commentary on what the products did.

The brothers came across a glass tank filled with tiny little robots with light bulbs for heads. The huge banner over the tank read " _Bulb-Tech. Your best little friend and assistant who would do it all for you!"_

"Oh wow! Those look neat!" Kit said, amazed at the all the tiny robots waving friendly at him.

"Don't bother with them," Chris said firmly, pushing Kit away from the tank. "I've bought five of those so far and they all vanished after turning evil. They're a total rip-off." As he said it, all the Bulb-Techs in the tank became angry and glowed red, waving their tiny little fists instead, and then, one by one, each of them vanished. "See?" he said, pointing at the now-empty tank.

Kit followed Chris' lead and looked all around in awe, every now and then, asking: "What's this?" and looking at whatever it was that Kit was pointing at, Chris would tell him what each item was called, followed by a summary of what they did.

"Hey, look! They have a candy section!" Kit said happily, pointing to a shelf that had an array of different sweets. He took a pack of gum and examined it. "Oxy-Chew?" he read off the pack with a raised eyebrow. "'A gum that provides you with oxygen, water and nutrition while you chew, allowing you to survive in space without a spacesuit!' Is this a hoax?"

"No, it actually works!" said Chris. "Dad and I are always chewing those when we're flying through space! How else do you think we can fly in space in a regular propeller plane without a spacesuit?"

"I just assumed the plane was specially designed for space travel, but wow, this gum really works? I think I'll buy a pack!"

"Okay, just don't buy the "best" flavor." Chris said, wiggling two fingers with both hands in an air quote. "It's actually the worst flavor, it being the "best"..." again with the air quote. "...is purely Gyro's opinion. And the _McQueen_ do have an oxygen provision system, but it is limited because of how small it is. The bigger oxygen tank wouldn't fit in the plane and Dad didn't want to give up the cargo hold or the leg room we have in the cockpit."

Kit picked up the black pack that proclaim itself to be the best flavor and read what flavor it was. He stuck out his tongue with a disgusted expression. "Ugh! Black licorice?! Why would anyone chew this stuff?" He then noticed that the black licorice was the flavor that they had the most of, meaning that people weren't buying that flavor.

"That's why I always go with Bubble Gum flavor." Chris said, pointing to the pink pack. "Dad likes the Winter Fresh flavor," he said, pointing to the blue pack."

"Mmm, I think I'll try….Sweet Watermelon." Kit said, after looking over all the different flavors and picking up a lime green pack and putting it in the shopping basket that hung from his arm.

"Yeah, that's a good flavor too!" Chris said as he and Kit moved on from the candy section. "Now could you please buy a phone," he said, pushing Kit over to the cellphone section that was labeled: Gummiphones..

"Again with that?" Kit groaned, sliding on his heels as Chris pushed him. "Chris, I told you, I don't want one yet!"

"But I want to be able to call and text you from other parts of the mall." Chris said with big begging eyes.

"What's the point of that, since you're always right here with me when we go out." Kit pointed out.

"Your lack of a phone is the reason why we can't go our own ways." Chris muttered.

"Alright, alright, if it will get you off my tail... fine, I'll buy one!" Kit said, finally giving up. "Just don't expect me to be all happy about it."

"Whoo-hoo!" Chris cried happily, now walking down the aisle ahead of Kit with a bounce in his steps, Kit smiled as he watched his brother skip down the aisle, glad that he made his brother happy. "How about this one?" Chris said, taking a phone off the shelf and showing it to Kit. "It's similar to what Dad and I have."

The smile faded off Kit's face as he pushed the phone away. "Chris, you know how much I hate your phone. Let's find something that's not going to make me mad and toss it out the window…."

Looking sad, Chris said. "Okay, Kit…" and he sadly placed the phone back on the shelf.

Kit felt bad that he had hurt his brother's feelings by rejecting his recommendation, but resolved to remain firm in his decision to reject all smartphones.

"Hey, look at this one!" Kit cried happily, picking a cell phone package that had a picture of a green camouflage-style flip phone. "This one looks perfect for me! It's got buttons and everything!"

"Sure, if you want people to start calling you Grandpa…" Chris muttered.

Taking offense at that, Kit said: "Look, you want me to get a phone or not? It's either this phone or nothing."

Chris held his hands up in a defensive gesture. "Okay, okay! Take it."

Looking satisfied, Kit put the phone into his shopping basket and continued shopping. After awhile, Kit went to check out.

Behind the register was…

"Gyro!" Chris said in amazement. "What are you doing here?"

"What? Can't I run my own store that has my name on it?" Gyro said smugly, as though he saw himself as extremely important.

"Not saying you shouldn't, just thought..." Chris said, apparently not wanting to offend Gyro in any way. "It's just that you're usually in your lab, creating more new things…"

Gyro let out a huffed sigh, as if he thought he should be doing something better than this. "Yeah, well, my cashier called in sick today, so I had to step in." he said. "Besides, this gives me an opportunity to interact with my customers and find out what they want and then come up with a way to invent that."

"How about a drink cup that keeps your iced drink cold all day long, even on a hot day?" Kit suggested.

"Oh yes! Great idea!" Gyro said excitedly, taking out a notepad and pen and started writing, but then he stopped. "Wait, wait, wait… that's already been invented."

"It has?" Kit said in amazement.

"Yeah," Gyro said, pointing with his pen to a display of a metal tall cups with glass lids. "It's called a Stainless Steel Vacuum Insulated Tumbler, or Tumbler for short."

Kit went over to the display and took one of the Tumblers down and examined it. "Does this really work?"

Looking a little offended at the question, Gyro said: "Of course it works! The science behind that is simple. First. make a double walls and then vacuum all the air out from between the two walls before sealing it. On the outside, it can be hot, but the contents inside will remain unaffected by the outside air, because with all the air sucked out from between the two walls, there is nothing between the outer wall and the inner wall. Hot and cold cannot pass through nothing, so all your ice cubes can take up to twenty-four hours or longer to melt, even on very hot days."

"Wow, that sounds amazing and it's only ten dollars?!" KIt said in awe, picking up a camouflage-style Tumbler. "I'm buying one! I'll take this one," he said, placing the Tumbler on the counter. "Oh, I better buy one for Baloo too! Maybe he'll stop using those nasty paper cups." he said, picking a yellow Tumbler with a red ring around the top. "This color reminds me of the _Sea Duck_... I hope it won't make him sad to be reminded of it."

"Alright," Gyro said, taking Kit's items and scanning them. "Two Tumblers… one Gummiphone Flip….one Oxy—" he stopped as he noticed the flavor of Oxy-Chew Kit picked. "Uh, are you sure you want this? I mean, it's not even the best flavor…." he said, clearly wanting Kit to buy the black licorice.

"Ugh, fine… I'll buy a pack of black licorice too..." Kit said, turning and walking off to the candy section and coming back with the black licorice flavor gum. "But I still want the Sweet Watermelon flavor." he said firmly.

"Fine, fine, tell you what, I'll sell you these two packs of Oxy-Chew for the price of one." Gyro said, scanning the two packs of Oxy-Chew.

"Kit, why are you buying that flavor for?" Chris asked in a whisper.

"I thought I'd use it as a prank," Kit whispered back, chuckling. "You know, offer them a gum and watch their face when they realize it's black licorice."

At that, Chris grinned mischievously. "Oh, that's so evil! I like it!" he chuckled before looking up at Gyro. "Hey Gyro, could you activate Kit's phone, please?"

"Certainly." Gyro said, taking Kit's phone out of the shopping bag, opened it, took all the contents out, putting the battery into the phone before popping the back cover into place. He then flipped the phone open, held down the red END button and the phone dingled to life and the screen lit up. With a few keystrokes of dial buttons and a few keystrokes of the computer, he started asking questions: "Name?"

"Kit Cloudkicker, sir." Kit said.

"Age?"

"I'm twelve, sir."

"Alright, here you go, kid." said Gyro, snapping the phone shut and tossing it to Kit, who caught. It. "You're good to go. It's all in there, your ID, your phone info and your phone number."

Kit flipped his phone open and saw the time on the main screen. "Uh, where's my info?"

"You have to press some buttons to bring it up." Chris said, reaching over Kit's shoulder and pressing a few buttons and brought up Kit's info. "There you go."

Kit looked down at it. "Hey, it's even got my picture on it! And the background is...Gyro's store?"

"Yeah, I snapped a picture of you with your Gummiphone while I was activating it." Gyro said.

"Wait, what?!" Kit exclaimed in surprise. "You can take _PICTURES_ with this thing?!"

"And do voice recording and video." Gyro said with a raised eyebrow. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say this is the first phone you ever bought."

"It is, actually, sir." Kit said, looking at his phone with a look of wonder. "Wow, this is amazing…"

"C'mon Kit, tell me what your number is!" Chris whined impatiently, who was holding his smartphone, evidently in the process of adding Kit's contact info to his Contact list.

"Huh? Oh, um…" Kit said, looking down at his screen. "It doesn't seem to say..."

"You gotta scroll down," Chris said.

"Scroll down?"

"Yeah, like this." Chris reached over Kit's shoulder again and pressed the scroll button down to check Kit's info and then his number came into view.

"Oh, okay, um, it's five, four, eight..." Kit paused, giving Chris time to type it into his phone. "Five, four, eight, two."

"Chris, I'm surprised you're not begging your father for a Gummiphone." Gyro said, supporting his head with his elbow on the counter, looking bored as he flipped through a tech magazine.

"Huh? What's so special about a Gummiphone?" Chris asked.

Gyro's eyes widened in shock, his elbow slipped out from under him and he fell, disappearing behind the counter with a great crash!

Kit and Chris leaned over the counter to try and peer down behind the counter, and suddenly Gyro popped up as sudden as a Jack-in-the-box, causing the two cubs to jump back with a yelp of shock. Gyro leaned over the counter with his widened, shocked eyes still in place.

'WHHHHHHAT?!" he exclaimed loudly. "You've never heard of a Gummiphone?!"

"N-no…" Chris said nervously, leaning back as Gyro was leaning forward, invading his personal space. "W-what are they?"

"Why, it's only the best line of cell phones ever made!" Gyro said, straightening up and holding himself high. "Designed by yours truly, of course."

"Do they work?" Chris asked skeptically. "Do they do everything a smartphone does? And none of them turned evil yet?"

"I told you before, Chris, only half of my inventions turn evil." Gyro reminded him. "The other half are just wildly misunderstood. And yes, the Gummiphone does everything a smartphone does and... _more_." he said the last word with a mystical whisper.

"More?" Now Gyro had piqued Chris' interest and now he gave Gyro his full and undivided attention. "How much more?"

Gyro smiled as if he was thinking: ' _And snap! The mouse is caught!'_ "Ever found yourself in a world with no Wi-fi, no internet, no GPS, no text messaging, no calls from friends in other worlds, no video calls from P.J.?"

"Y-yeah, more often than I'd liked." Chris muttered.

"Well then, my young scholar, the Gummiphone's the answer to all of your prayers!" Gyro exclaimed. "With a Gummiphone, you can stay connected to everything without ever needing Wi-fi or a strong signal."

"OH MY STARS, I WANT ONE!" Chris yelled with bursting excitement.

"Well then, they're right over there!" Gyro said, gesturing to the Gummiphone section of the store. "Go get you one!"

Without a word, Chris ran down the aisle to the Gummiphone section and got out of sight.

"Wow," Kit whistled, watching Chris go. "You played him like a violin **!"**

"Mr. McDuck had me to practice my salesman speeches," Gyro said. "Good to see that it's paying off."

Chris came dashing back to the counter with a box containing a Gummiphone that looked similar to the smartphone he currently owned.

"Here!" he panted, skidding to a halt and slamming the box down on the counter.

Gyro took it and scanned it. "That'll be fifty dollars."

Chris eeped as he turned his empty pockets inside out.

Gyro raised an eyebrow. "You don't have any money, do you?"

"Um, um, um…." Chris said nervously, patting himself all over for some miracle money that he thought he might have, finally he took out his smartphone. "Can you take this for it?"

"I can, but it'll only take forty dollars off this Gummiphone, so you're ten dollars short."

Chris turned his begging eyes on Kit. "Please, please, please, Kit, I _NEED_ this Gummiphone, I gotta have it! Please help me out here!"

Kit rolled his eyes. "Fine, but you owe me." he said, handing Gyro his gift card.

Chris dashed at Kit and threw his arms around him, hugging him tightly. "THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!" he cried happily in one breath. "You're the world's best big brother!"

"ACK! Chris… too tight… can't breathe…." Kit gasped, clutching Chris' arm that was around his neck and struggling to breathe..

"Oh, sorry!" Chris said hastily as he released Kit and took a step back,

Gyro took Kit's gift card and swiped it, then he took Chris' smartphone, opened the back, took the battery out, took the SIM card out and placed it inside the Gummiphone. Then he handed Chris the Gummiphone.

"Here you go, everything you had on your smartphone is transferred to your Gummiphone." Gyro said.

"Wow... just like that? Wow, that was fast." Chris said in awe. "Your Gummiphone's amazing."

"I know," Gyro said, bagging up all of Kit's items and handing Kit the bag. "Come again. I know you will, I mean, mine is the best store in this mall."

"Thinks very highly of himself, that Gyro…" Kit muttered to Chris as they left the store. "And why didn't you have any of your money with you? Are you really that broke?"

Chris looked at Kit, his cheeks turning red in a blush. "I...forgot my wallet and left it at home..."

"Again? Chris, that makes four times in a row!" Kit said loudly.

"I know! I don't know why, but most of the time, I'd leave the house without my wallet unless Dad reminds me."

"Have you always been that forgetful of your wallet?" Kit asked, looking concerned.

"Pretty much, yeah." Chris said with a shrug.

"Well, it's not a good thing to be forgetful about." Kit said sternly. "From now on, I'll remind you to bring your wallet when you go out."

Chris smiled. "Thanks, Kit, I'm lucky to have a big brother like you looking out for me."

As they walked through the town towards Hangar Park, Kit was looking around at all the different booths all over the place. Booths selling health potions and mana potions. Booths selling protective clothings and booths selling weapons and power items, items such as rings, bracelets and necklaces

"Do those stuff really work?" Kit asked Chris, pointing to the booths.

"Yeah….they do, but they're not as good as they say they are." Chris said, avoiding eye contact with the surrounding booth owners. "Those power enhancement items, they're mostly for the Mage class, and if you're not in that class, they're basically useless to you, because they're made to increase the magical powers of a Mage,"

"Then why are they even here?" Kit asked, feeling that these booths are pointless.

"People need the money." Chris shrugged. "Even in the D-Star, you need money to get by. Nothing is free."

"What about those health potions, do they work?" Kit asked.

"Yeah, they do, but they're really more of something you keep in your medicine cabinet for you to take when you're sick." Chris said. "Dedis and Student Dedis are not allowed to carry them because they can be easily stolen or broken during combat. Dedis have to be self-reliant, that's why we are required to learn the basic Cure spell."

"Cure spell? You can do magic?!" Kit gasped, sounding amazed.

"Not really, magic is not really my strong point and I can only cast it with my D-blade." Chris said. "I'm not the Mage class, I'm more of a mixed class of Warrior and Defender."

"You can have dual classes?"

"Yeah, if you have high enough skills in both class." Chris said. "I'm dual class because of my habit of switching between attacking and defending during combat. If an ogre attacks me, I'm prone to do a defensive move before attacking it.""

Kit stopped dead in his tracks. "OGRES? They exist?!"

"Yeah, they're one of many of our enemies' minions." Chris revealed casually. "Ogres are not that difficult to deal with, the trick is to outsmart them, and that's not hard to do, considering they're really very stupid."

"Sounds like the Air Pirates." Kit remarked as Chris' Gummiphone started ringing.

"A video call?" Chris said as he examined his phone. "Oh, it's Max!" he said, answering the phone and Max's face appeared on his screen.

"Chris!" Max exclaimed, looking worried and it was clear from the background that Max was in the air traffic control tower. "You gotta come home right now! I just cleared your Dad for landing, he'll be home any minute!"

"Oh good! Dad's home!" Chris said excitedly. "Thanks, Max!"

"No, no, you don't understand!" Max cried, looking scared. "Baloo is throwing a party right now! And if your Dad comes home and finds your hangar-apartment in such a mess….Oh man, Baloo's gonna get it!"

A look of rage filled Kit's face and he took off running towards the hangar area.

"Kit, wait up!" Chris yelled after him. "Thanks Max." he said before hanging up and went sprinting after Kit. Soon he caught up with Kit.

"What am I gonna do with him, Chris?" Kit sobbed as he ran. "I told him not to throw parties, Dad told him not to throw parties and even you've told him not to throw parties, and what does he do? He threw a party! And now Dad's gonna kick him out for sure!"

As they crossed the gates into the airport's grounds, they heard wild party music playing and then all of sudden, the music stopped as if someone had pulled the plug on the jukebox. Then they heard the thunderous yell of: "BALOO!" in the distance. It was Matthew's voice and he sounded really mad. At the sound of Matthew's voice, Kit gasped and stopped dead in his tracks. Chris ran up ahead before noticing this and slowed to a stop and looked back at Kit.

"Kit? Ar-are you okay?" Chris asked, walking back over to Kit and placing a hand on Kit's shoulder.

Kit let out a sob, turned his cap around to hide his face under the brim. "It's gonna happen today, isn't it? Me and Baloo are gonna get kicked out."

"What?! No! Baloo, maybe, but not you!" Chris said, looking sad for his brother.

Kit shook his head, his face downcast, still hidden beneath his cap. "Baloo and I are buddies, pals, a team... Wherever he goes, I go."

"Oh…." Chris said, he then hugged Kit. "But please don't cry, m-maybe we can work something..."

"Chris, stop fooling yourself." Kit stated bluntly. "We both knew this was gonna happen sooner or later, ever since Dad exploded over the mess Baloo's first party left behind. I'm honestly surprised that we've lasted through six parties in the last two weeks without getting kicked out. This makes party number seven, and I don't think Dad's gonna put up with it anymore."

"Maybe he'll give Baloo one more chance." Chris said optimistically.

"I hope so. If not, is there any chance we can stay at your godfather's place?"

"Nope! None, sorry," Chris said apologetically. "I already asked Uncle Scrooge and he said that the door's always open for you, but not for Baloo."

"What?! Why?!" Kit demanded in outrage.

Chris shrugged. "He already heard about all the parties Baloo's been throwing. It's a suburban neighborhood, news travel fast around here, especially with most people having smartphones and now Gummiphones."

Kit kicked a can with his toe in anger. "Great...just great…We lost our home world, and now we're going to be kicked out of my Dad's house…. Where are we supposed to go, Chris?"

"I dunno, Kit, but we'll figure something out." Chris said, putting an arm around Kit's shoulder as the two of them continued on their way to their hangar.

The Cloudkicker Hangar came into view just in time for the twins to witness the door raising up and a flood of people came swarming out, a loud voice behind the crowd was yelling: "OUT! GET OUT OF MY HOUSE! WHY DO YOU PEOPLE KEEP COMING BACK TO MY HOUSE TO PARTY?!" it was Matthew's voice.

Kit gasped in horror as the crowd thinned and he caught sight of his Dad, looking furious, kicking Baloo's backside with his foot encased in a boot, sending Baloo flying through the doorway and onto the pavement.

Baloo pushed himself upright, into a sitting position and he looked up and saw Kit,

"Kit... Lil britches….I'm sorry, I blew it."

"Aw, Baloo... Why do you keep throwing these parties?" Kit asked, sad tears sliding down his face. "I warned you that you were going to get us kicked out, so why did you do it?"

"Because… besides you, it's all I have left that keeps me goin'... without you, I have nothing… my friends are all gone, my plane….my plane…" Baloo suddenly burst into tears and cried into the pavement. "My baby…! My beautiful baby duck is gone! And now I'm grounded with nuthin' but partying to live fer!"

"Oh…!" Kit gasped, realizing that Baloo was depressed and partying was his way of easing the pain. "Oh, Baloo…" Kit hugged his Papa Bear,

Matthew observed the scene before him with a sad and remorseful expression, until he felt a tug on the bottom of his jacket and looked down to see Chris looking sadly up at him.

"Please don't kick Uncle Baloo out…." he said. "If he goes, Kit goes…"

"Sorry, little buddy, but I already gave Baloo my word that I was kicking him out if he threw another party without my permission. This was the final straw." Matthew said sadly. "I must keep my word, I-I can't take it back."

Angry tears filled Chris' eyes and he kicked Matthew in the shin.

"Ow! What the… Chris!"

Chris ran into the hangar, screaming: "I HATE YOU!" and then in the distance, they heard a door slam.

Kit helped Baloo to his feet. "C'mon Baloo, let's get out of here…"

"Naw, Lil Britches, you stay here with yer family, I'll just go." Baloo said with the most depressed face.

Kit hugged Baloo's side tightly. "No, Baloo! I'm not letting you go, I'm staying with you! I'm your navigator...always! Wherever you go, I go. You are all I have left of home."

KIt's words hit Matthew harder than Chris' foot ever could. He gasped and let out a sob before hurrying forward, limping a little as he went.

"Wait!" Matthew cried. Kit and Baloo stopped and turned to look at him, Matthew then bend over, clutching his leg. "Oh man, that kid of mine kicks like a horse!"

"What do you want, Dad?" Kit asked, sounding sad while clutching Baloo's arm.

"Okay, look, Chris and I don't want you to move, but since you're attracted to this party animal and I can't really have him in my house… how about I buy this empty hangar next door so that you and Baloo could move in there?"

"What's the use, Matt." Baloo said in a depressed voice. "Without a plane ta put in there, they wouldn't give us a hangar. I know, because I already asked that Goofy fella."

Matthew grinned. "Oh, leave that to me! Come with me." he turned around and led the way, muttering to himself: "This is gonna hurt my wallet far more than my leg is right now…"

Baloo gulped. "We're not going to take that devil car, are we?"

Matthew paused in a flash of anger. _Devil car?!_ "Okay, okay, calm down, Matthew," he muttered to himself as he continued walking. "I know you want to strangle this partying buffoon, but if you do, you'll lose your son for a second time! Calm down….breathe…" He inhaled deeply and then exhaled.

Matthew led them to a gigantic hangar, with a huge sign stuck across the front above the doors, reading: " _ **Build-a-Plane Workshop."**_

"Here we are," Matthew said, gesturing to the Build-a-Plane Workshop with both hands.

"Wow, can you build any planes here?" Kit asked, sounding amazed.

"Huh? You can build planes here?" Baloo asked, bemused.

"Judging from the name of this building, I'd think so." Kit pointed out.

"Well, you thought right!" Matthew said. "I only had to use this place twice before, when the _McQueen_ was damaged beyond repair during missions. This place builds you a new plane within minutes!"

"So you can bring back the _Sea Duck_ with this?!" Baloo said with barely restrained excitement.

"Yeah, watch." Matthew said, walking up to the front door, stopping in front of a console in the door. He took out a flash drive from his pocket and plugging it into the console. The image of the _McQueen_ appear on the screen.

"Hey… that's the _McQueen_ , not my baby…" Baloo said, sounding disappointed.

"They're both a Conwing L-sixteen, Baloo," Matthew pointed out. "They're a forgotten model of plane, as the Conwings are an obsolete brand of planes since before the twenty-first century, which is the time we're currently in right now. Remember, we lost most of the Conwing L-sixteens in the war. It would take too long to build the _Sea Duck_ from scratch. What I'm doing is bringing up the data of the _McQueen_ , using it as a base for the _Sea Duck_ , copying the data, renaming that copy to the _Sea Duck_ , and now painting the plane to yellow with red flaps…" Matthew used his finger on the touchscreen, putting the _Sea Duck_ under customization and then using his finger to select the paint and then touching different aspects of the plane, changing most of the red plane to yellow. "and…bingo! The _Sea Duck._ "

Baloo pushed Matthew aside and pressed his face against the screen. "My baby….!" He pulled himself away from the screen and looked at Matthew. "How do we get my plane outta this little box?"

"You press Build." Matthew said, pressing the button.

"Please insert a total of fifty thousand dollars to build this plane." a cool female voice said from the console.

"What? But I don't have that much dough!" Baloo cried, looking devastated.

"Don't worry, Baloo, I'll take care of it." Matthew said, taking out his wallet and withdrawing a card that looked similar to Kit's gift card from within.

"What? But Matt… you know I can't pay ya back for this…" Baloo said with concern.

"I know, and I expect nothing in return." Matthew said. "And I'd pay any price to have my son to live close by me."

"Dad…" Kit murmured, looking up at Matthew in awe, looking touched, his eyes shining.

"Matt..." Baloo murmured as he watched Matthew swipe his card, making the payment.

"Payment accepted," the console's cool female voice said. "Please wait while we build your plane." And then a percentage bar appeared on screen. They sat and waited for half an hour before it reached one hundred percent. "Your new plane is complete. Take your keys from the flap below the console. Happy flying." With a clinkering sound, not unlike the sound of returned coins falling, a pair of keys fell through the flap and into the bowl beneath. Matthew took the keys and stood back.

The doors of the hangar slide slowly open, steams billowed out before a brand-new yellow seaplane rolling slowly out with the intro music to _Real Gone_ by Sheryl Crow playing in the background.

As the new _Sea Duck_ rolled fully out of the hangar, the doors closed behind it. Kit and Baloo were both gazing in awe at the _Sea Duck._

"Matt..." Baloo said breathlessly, pulling Matthew into an one-arm hug. "Yer my new best buddy!"

"Oh wow, Baloo. I thought that honor belonged to Louie… I'm honored." Matthew said smiling as he handed Baloo the keys. "Here, these are yours. And Kit, here, take this." he tossed a flash drive to Kit. "Take care of it, keep it safe."

Kit caught the flash drive in his hand and examined it. "Why, what is this?" he asked.

"It's a flash drive with the _Sea Duck_ 's data inside it," Matthew said. "If anything happens to this _Sea Duck,_ you can use that flash drive so this plane-building factory can build a new one. Just insert it into this console," he gestured to the console attached to the hangar door. "Bring up the data of the _Sea Duck_ that is in that flash drive and then press Build. Easy, right?

"Wow, thanks Dad." Kit said, tucking the flash drive away under his cap. "But do I need my gift card to pay for it?"

"Yeah, your gift card will work anywhere in the D-Star." Matthew said. "But you'll have to put more money on it before using it to build another _Sea Duck._ I'll show you how later." he then turned to Baloo. "Well, Baloo, you wanna take the _Duck_ for a test flight?" Matthew said with a grin.

"You better believe it, Matt!" Baloo said with a happy nod and then he ran up to the plane, pulled the door open and climbed up into the cockpit.

Matthew picked Kit up and helped him up into the cockpit, before climbing in after him, closing the door behind him.

Baloo was looked over the brand-new-looking brown leather seats, neither of them had a single patch on them. He then sat down in the pilot seat and sighed happily as he leaned back.

"Oh baby… this new seat is so comfy!"

Matthew sat down in the co-pilot seat, picked Kit up and set him on his lap. He cuddled Kit as he got him on his lap.

Baloo sat up straight and examined the controls and the dashboard of buttons and switches. There were a few extra ones he only ever saw in the _McQueen_. And looking the control yoke, he noticed a couple triggers near the top.

"What's with all these extras?" Baloo asked, gesturing at the unknown buttons and switches. "And does the _Duck_ have guns now?"

"Yeah, and more." Matthew said as Kit snuggled up in Matthew's arms. "Start the engines and I'll explain them as we go."

Baloo inserted the key, turned it, flipped a few switches, starting the engines on and propellers started to spin. And then pushing the throttle forward just a little bit, and the _Sea Duck_ rolled forward. He drove the plane through the hangar area and onto the runway.

"Call the air traffic control tower for permission to take off." Matthew advised him. "You must always ask for clearance to land and take off."

"Okay," Baloo said, picking up the mic.

Soon, they were up in the air, doing roller coaster-like maneuvers, loop-de-loops and even ol' Baloo Corkscrew, all the while, Matthew pointed at different buttons on the dashboard and explained the different new functions.

Kit, meanwhile, sat in Matthew's lap, reading the _Sea Duck's_ new manual, a book he'd found under the co-pilot seat.

"Hey, Baloo!" Kit said excitedly, pointing to a page in the book. "The _Sea Duck_ now has an autopilot system! Now you don't have to use the crowbar anymore!"

"Wait, what? Matthew said, looking over at Baloo. "You used a crowbar to put the plane on autopilot?" he then chucked. "Heh-heh, that's pretty clever, Baloo."

"Oh boy, I love this new plane." Baloo said happily, locating the autopilot switch. He flipped the switch and then leaned back in his seat, locking his hands behind his head and relaxing. "Now I can catch of few minutes of Z's with this new feature."

"Just don't use it too long, Baloo," Matthew warned. "a building or a mountain can appear while you're napping and autopilot will not change course for you to avoid it."

"I know, I know…" Baloo muttered, switching the autopilot off. "Heh-heh, I think I've got the hang of this new _Duck_." Baloo chuckled as he flew in a wide circle around the neighborhood and its' town.

"Really? Well then, let's have some fun, shall we?" Matthew said as he picked up the mic. "Hey Goof, bring out the practice hoops."

"Okey-dokey, Mattsy!" Goofy responded over the radio. "Should I put your name on the scoreboard?"

"No, Baloo's the one flying this plane, so put Baloo's name on the board." Matthew said.

Hundreds of giant holographic rings appeared across the sky and even a giant holographic scoreboard appeared above the air traffic control tower that beared Baloo's name on it and a big number zero below the name.

"Now, all you have to do is fly through these rings without missing a single one." Matthew said to Baloo. "Have fun with it!"

"Oh, I intend to." Baloo said with a grin as he focused on the rings and started flying through the rings. Now it was like a rollercoaster with Baloo flying in a straight line, then swooping down in a dive, before pulling back into a steep climb. After a half-hour, the scoreboard read one hundred million. Then the number vanished to be replaced with the word PERFECT!

"Wow, no one has ever got a perfect score!" Matthew said with a stunned look on his face. "...Not even me…"

"Hey Baloo, can I try? Can I?" Kit asked eagerly, sounding excited. "C'mon. Papa Bear, I wanna see how high I can go!"

"Alright, Lil Britches," Baloo chuckled. "C'mere," he said, holding out an arm, inviting Kit onto his lap.

Kit jumped across the cockpit into Baloo's lap from Matthew's, taking the control yoke.

"Alright Goof, we got a new pilot," Matthew spoke into the mic. "So change the name on the board to Kit and reset the score,"

"Okey-dokey, ah-hyuck!" Goofy's voice responded. "Whoa-whoa!" he cried and what followed were the sounds of a series of crashes. The scoreboard went haywire, the rings changed colors and became shaky, flickering in and out of view. Fireworks went off, the sky went dark and the gigantic holograms of the Tornado Titan, the Rock Titan and the Ice Titan that looked solid and real appearing before them, scaring the living daylight out of both Baloo and Kit, who screamed in terror, while Matthew remained perfectly calm.

"Relax, you two." Matthew said in a bored voice. "These monsters are only holograms, they're not real."

"Holo-what?" Kit asked.

"You know how movie reels project moving images onto a movie screen?" Matthew said. "It's like that, except a hologram doesn't need a wall or a screen."

"Wow…" Kit said in awe. "They look so real!"

"That's twenty-first century technology for ya." Matthew said. "It has evolved from movie reels into highly advanced holograms, looking so real that they can be mistaken for actual people."

And then, the three Titans disappeared and everything stopped going crazy and reversed back to normal.

"Sorry about that," said a kid's voice, Max's voice. "We ran into some...technical difficulties… Now have your fun while I unravel my Dad from these cables…. DAD, NO, STOP MOVING! YOU'RE GONNA—" Suddenly there was a loud crackle of electricity, followed by an explosion and another crashing sound as Goofy was blasted through the roof on the tower.

"AAAHHH-HOO-HOO-HOOOOOO!" Goofy cried as he went soaring through the air, shooting pass the _Sea Duck_ like a rocket.

"Oh no! We gotta save him!" Kit cried, he reach and pushed the throttle all the way forward, going at full speed towards Goofy, and...

 _SPLAT_! Goofy hit their windshield like a road bug.

"Gawrsh….thanks…." Goofy said in a flatten, muffled voice, sliding down the windshield.

"Wow, Lil Britches," Baloo said proudly, "That's exactly how you saved me during that Idol o' Doom swabble, I said it before, I'll say it again, you're gonna be a great pilot."

Kit smiled with pride at Baloo's words as Matthew pushed down the window and pulled a flattened Goofy off the windshield and into the cockpit.

"Thanks, Mattsy," Goofy groaned before Matthew set him down on the floor.

"No problem, Goof, but you should be thanking Kit," Matthew said with a proud smile.

"Hey, Yellow Duck!" said Max on the radio. "Thanks for saving my Dad!"

Kit and Baloo exchanged an annoyed glance before Kit took the mic. "No problem, Max, but uh, it's _Sea Duck,_ not Yellow Duck."

"Oh, sorry," Max said. "Well I'm re-activating the practice hoops now."

The giant holographic rings appeared again, and Kit grinned with a focused look and flew the plane through the rings. He did good, but not as good as Baloo. He got a lot of rings but he also missed a lot of rings, and everytime he missed a ring, a female voice could be heard saying: "You missed a ring" or "That's quite a few rings you've missed." So his score was far from perfect at just fifty thousand.

"Aw man!" Kit groaned, putting his head down on top of the control yoke. "I missed more than half the rings Papa Bear got!"

"Don't feel bad, Lil Britches," Baloo said, patting him on the back. "I've been flying for years, you've barely just got yer wings. Ya did better than most kids yer age would."

"Yeah, Kit," Matthew said. "You did better than all the Duck triplets combined! Dewey's the reason I had to build a new _McQueen_ with Build-a-Plane Workshop after he crashed it. Never let him near my plane since. I swear, the kid hangs out with Launchpad too much." Matthew then took Kit from Baloo's lap and set him back on his own lap. "Alright, Baloo, let's test your aiming with your new guns." Matthew said, picking up the mic. " _Sea Duck_ to air control, come in."

"Air control to Yellow—er I mean, _Sea Duck_ , reading you loud and clear." Max's voice sounded from the radio,

"Requesting the practice targets." Matthew said.

"Request granted, have fun!" Max said, and then hundreds of balloons with targets drawn on them took off into the sky, surrounding the _Sea Duck._

"Okay, Baloo, take aim and fire away." Matthew said. "But make sure you don't fire towards the ground. Remember, there are people down there and you don't want to accidentally hit them."

Baloo flipped a switch on the dashboard that had an image of a pistol above it, and outside the plane, the two headlights flipped over and replaced themselves with a pair of machine guns.

Baloo put the plane into a dive, swooping below the balloons, and then he pulled the plane into a climb, he closed one eye and stuck his tongue out, licking his upper lip, before he opened fire on the balloons, popping dozens of them. And instead of bullets, these guns shot blue bolts of lasers. Then he pulled the plane into a climbing left turn before shooting at half a dozen more balloons.

"I still got it." Baloo said, blowing on his fingers and then he pretended to polish them on his shirt.

Later, after they've landed, Matthew bought the hangar next door and Baloo backed the _Sea Duck_ into it, while Kit went into Matthew and Chris' hangar, gathered all of his stuff and carried them into the new hangar. Goofy returned to the air traffic control tower with his son, Max.

After getting Baloo and Kit moved into their new hangar and cleaning his own from Baloo's party, Matthew collapsed upon his sofa, sliding his feet out his boots and putting it up on the carpet table. He cracked open a can of soda, took a long deep drink, before leaning back in his sofa, closing his eyes and letting out a deep sigh.

He sat there, relaxing before he felt a small body slowly pressing itself onto him. He opened one eye and saw Chris laying his head on his chest, cuddling up against him.

"Daddy?" Chris said timidly, calling him Daddy as he did every time he feared he went too far and that he'd made his Dad really mad. He somehow felt that calling him Daddy would make him less mad. "I'm sorry I kicked you… I don't hate you. You're a wonderful Dad."

Matthew smiled and hugged his son, kissing him on top of the head. "It's all water under the wings, kiddo." then he added with a pained grimace: "But kick me like that again, and I swear, I will tan your hide. Do you understand me?"

"Yes sir…" Chris gulped, he then snuggled up against his Dad's side. After a moment of snuggling, he reached down beginning to massage his Dad's leg, where he had kicked him earlier. "Does it hurt?"

"Oh man, it did! You kicked like a horse!" Matthew groaned. "But it's okay, the pain's beginning to fade, it doesn't hurt as much anymore."

"I'm sorry," Chris said again.

"It's fine, Chris, I understand why you did it, which is why I'm not currently tanning your hide right now." Matthew said in a loving, patient tone. "I know how it looked to you, you saw it as me kicking Kit out along with Baloo. So I forgive this incident, but like I said, do it again, and I won't be as forgiving next time."

Matthew pulled Chris into an one-arm hug and Chris snuggled up against his Dad's side, his head laying on his Dad's chest. Chris then yawned and closed his eyes. Father and son falling asleep on the couch.

After an hour of sleep, Matthew woke up, got up and carried Chris to his room, placed Chris in his bed and covered him up. Then he took Chris' favorite teddy bear and placed it in Chris' arms before kissing Chris' forehead and then he left the room, looking back to see Chris hugging and snuggling with his teddy bear.

* * *

 **Author's Note:  
I hope you enjoyed this episode. More episodes are coming, episode thirteen is already in the process of being written.**

 **Special thanks to my editor, Cyclone Blaze.**


	13. Episode Thirteen - Olympus Coliseum

**Disclaimer: I do not own TaleSpin or anything of the Disney Afternoon.**

* * *

 **Episode Thirteen**

 **Olympus Coliseum**

* * *

It was a few months after Baloo and Kit moved into their new hangar. Their hangar was just like Matthew and Chris', with a suite above the hangar area where the new _Sea Duck_ was parked. The living room of their suite was divided into half office, half living room, as Kit insisted he wanted an office. He spent all the remaining amount of money he had left on his gift card to buy a fancy desk, just like the one Rebecca had, so that he could style his office after hers. He even got a huge green bulletin board to hang on the wall behind the desk.

Kit walked into the upstairs' suite above the hangar area. Baloo was currently in the hangar below, washing and polishing the new _Sea Duck_. Kit approached his new office, looking through a few pieces of mail.

"Bill, bill, bill…" he said dully, dropping into his chair behind his desk. He slit open a bill and looked at it and saw that it was a two hundred dollar water bill."WHAT?!" he yelped. "Two hundred dollars?! How did we ...? Oh yeah, all of those showers and plane-washing we've been doing this month ..."

Baloo came into the suite, singing to himself and dancing. "Hey, Kit, the _Sea Duck's_ as clean as a whistle now!"

Kit slumped down in his seat behind his desk. "I know…"

"Hey, what's the matter with you, Lil Britches?" Baloo asked, looking concerned. For an answer, Kit held out the water bill. Baloo took it and looked at it, cringing at the price of this bill. "Eeeh…"

"Eeeh is right, Papa Bear." Kit said gloomily. "How are we gonna pay for this?"

"How much do you got on yer…?" Baloo asked, swirling his finger around, referring to Kit's gift card.

"My gift card? Just twelve cents." Kit said with a raised eyebrow.

"Uh, can't we just ask yer Dad fer a…?"

"No, Baloo!" Kit snapped, startling Baloo. "...Just...no. My Dad's already done a lot for us, I don't feel right about asking him for money with no way of paying him back."

"But he's yer Dad, he's supposed to take care of things like this fer ya." said Baloo, sounding like a guy looking for a quick and easy fix for a problem he didn't want to deal with.

"I know," Kit said, sounding like he was choosing his next words carefully. "but I want us to be able to pull our own weight and do things ourselves without relying too much on other people. I don't want to put our problems on other people, not even Dad. How about we find work around here?"

"Work?!" Baloo gasped in horror. "Kit, I just got through waxing the _Sea Duck_ and you want me to find _MORE_ work?"

"Well yeah… preferably work that pays." Kit said. "Washing the _Sea Duck_ doesn't pay."

Kit then went over to the closet and took out a unicycle and a bag of balls.

"What are you doing, Lil Britches?" Baloo asked, bemused.

"I'm going to go out and earn a little money." Kit said, going out the door. "Just like I did before I met the Air Pirates..."

Kit went to the D-Star Mall and set up his little show just outside the door. He took off his cap and set it on the ground as a money tin. Then he started juggling balls while flawlessly riding the unicycle.

A few lady shoppers, a hen and a cow, stopped on the way to their car to watch him. And while they seemed impressed, they did not look overly wowed. So Kit decided to step it up a notch. He jumped into the air, off the unicycle, flipped over in midair and landed upside down back on the unicycle, pedaling with his hands and juggling with his feet.

The ladies cheered and clapped and then reached into their purse while walking over to him. They each took out a twenty dollar bill and dropped them into his cap before walking away.

"Wow," Kit said to himself while continuing his upside down juggle on the unicycle. "I was expecting a dollar's worth of changes at the most, and they gave me forty dollars! If I keep this up, I might be able to make enough money to pay the water bill!"

Kit held his four juggling balls between his feet as he rode up and down across the front of the mall as his arms were getting tired of balancing the unicycle in one spot.

Every now and then, people going in and out of the mall would pause and drop a dollar, sometimes five dollar bills into his cap.

After an hour of this, Kit was exhausted, he tried to do a cartwheel jump off the unicycle, but he found that he couldn't, his arms were too stiff.

"Hey! What the—whoa!" he cried as he ran into a rose bush and fell off the unicycle and now his upper body was inside the bush with his legs kicking outside the bush. "Ow…"

Just then, Chris and his friends, Huey, Dewey, Louie, Max and Gosalyn came out of the mall, laughing and joking.

"Alright, Chris," Huey said. "You owe me ten bucks. Seriously, you forgetting your wallet is becoming a problem, man."

"I know, I know, I'm sorry." Chris said. "I just left the house in a hurry and—what's that?" he said, noticing Kit's rear end and legs sticking out of a rose bush. "Is that Kit?" he then hurried over to the bush. "Kit, is that you? What are you doing in there?" he then grabbed Kit's ankles and pulled him out.

Kit emerged from the rose bush, wincing, both arms were up in the same position they were in when he was pedaling the unicycle with his hands.

"Oh hi, Chris… I was just trying to make a few bucks…" Kit then looked up at his arms and tried to put them down, but he couldn't. "Ow… my aching arms…"

"Just what were you doing anyway?" Gosalyn asked, looking concerned as she walked over to Kit, grabbed one of his arms and pushed down, causing Kit to scream in pain. Startled, she backed away. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you."

Kit's face was screwed up with pain, and although he fought it, tears found their way down his cheeks anyway.

"Ow-ow-ow! Oh gosh, it hurts!" Kit whimpered.

"Oh gosh, you need a healing spell." Huey said in concern.

Chris frowned in anger at Kit's pain; he gathered all of his brother's things and marched him from the mall with his hand on Kit's back where it hurts the least to make him walk, ignoring the protests of his friends, leaving them behind as he marched Kit back to the hangar.

"DAD!" Chris yelled as they reached their hangar.

"Oh no, Chris, please don't tell Dad," Kit begged him. "Really, it's no big deal…"

"NO BIG DEAL?!" Chris exclaimed angrily. "Look at you! You're trying to earn money from street performing, you can't put your arms down and you're in pain, and you say it's no big deal?! Kit, it _IS_ a big deal! You shouldn't be doing this! Baloo's the one who's supposed to provide for you, not the other way around! When Dad hears about this... DAD!" he yelled again.

"Chris, please, stop… I…." Kit started to say, but he ended up crying out in pain..

The hangar door lifted up and there stood Matthew, wearing a gray jumpsuit, looking concerned.

"What's all the racket about, Chris?" Matthew asked.

"Dad, Kit was outside the mall, riding a unicycle and juggling for money." Chris said. "And his arms got so stiff that he can't put them down!"

Matthew frowned as he walked over and got down on one knee in front of Kit. "Why were you performing at the mall?"

"We... we needed the money…" Kit said in a low voice, looking down at his feet. " To-to pay the bills."

Matthew's frown deepened. "Kit, you shouldn't be worried about the bills, that's the adult's job. And in any case, why didn't you come to me? I would've given you money if you needed it that bad."

"I...I just wanted us to provide for ourselves, pull our own weight, you know." Kit said in an even lower voice. "You've already done so much for us, I don't feel comfortable asking you for more…"

"Kit, as far as I'm concerned, I'm not doing enough for you!" Matthew said, dismayed that his son felt this way. "And anyway, what's _Baloo_ doing to pull his weight?"

"He's... He's…." Kit tried to speak, but he was at a loss for words.

Matthew stood up, looking livid as he marched over to Kit and Baloo's hangar. "BALOO!" he yelled. "GET YOUR FAT TAIL SECTION OUT HERE NOW!"

The door slid up and Baloo came out, looking confused. "What's going on, Matt? What's with the hot water?" he asked, trying to think what could he have possibly done to make Matthew this angry.

"Baloo, what are you doing to provide for Kit?" Matthew said in a low and deadly voice.

"Uh…" Baloo began, but Matthew cut him off.

"Nothing! That's what, nothing! You know what are you doing to Kit?" Matthew said, gesturing to Kit. "You're making him think he has to go out and make money for the both of you!"

"Easy, Matt…" Baloo said, holding his hands up in a defensive gesture. "I didn't tell him to do that… I knew that was what he set out to do, but I didn't ask him to do it."

"But you did nothing to stop him, you just let him go out and earn some cash while you sat around and did nothing!"

At that, Baloo started to get angry. "Hey, back off, man! I'm trying, I _am_ looking for work. But I haven't found any clothes lines."

"That's no excu—wait, what?" Matthew said, looking confused. "What do you need a clothes line for? You got a dryer…"

"No, no, no. They told me to apply online, so I was gonna hang my application on a line, but I can't one anywhere." Baloo explained.

"Oh, no, no, Baloo, that's—" Matthew paused to bite his tongue to prevent himself from laughing uproariously. He then cleared his throat. "...That's not what applying online means."

"Then what does it means, man?" Baloo asked impatiently.

Matthew sighed. "It's a long story, I'll help you with that. But first things first, I gotta heal Kit."

Baloo looked over at Kit. "What's wrong, Li'l Britches, why are yer arms up like that?"

Kit looked down in embarrassment. "I… kinda did a handstand on my unicycle for too long and my arms got stiff…."

Matthew summoned his D-blade, pointed it at Kit and said: "Cura!" A pair of golden bells crossed each other, ringing over Kit's head and what looked like green rain fell on him. And as the bells disappeared, Kit was startled as the pain was instantly gone and he found that he was able to put his arms down again.

"Wow… that's amazing! How did you do that?" Kit asked in amazement as he examined his arms.

"It's one of the basic spells that all D-blade wielders are required to learn," Matthew said. "To perform it, I need my D-blade."

"Wow, maybe I should be a Dedi," Kit said, rotating his arm."What's the payroll for Dedis?"

"Well, due to your age, you can be a Student Dedis, and it's mostly scouting missions." Chris said. "And Student Dedis get five hundred dollars per mission. Adult Dedis get a thousand dollars per mission."

"Wow, a payroll like that would definitely help pay off all the bills!" Kit said excitedly. "Where do I sign up?"

Matthew and Chris looked at each other, before Matthew said: "It's not that simple, Kit. Before you can get into the Dedi Academy, you have to pass Philoctetes' examinations to even apply for entrance exam to get into the academy. If you can't pass, you won't get in."

"I'm going to enlist!" Kit said with a determined grin.

"...Why am I feeling a sudden sense of deja vu…?" Matthew groaned with his face in his hand.

"Because I said the exact same thing." Chris said simply, patting his Dad's arm.

The next day, Kit was standing next to Cavin and Cubbi in the world famous Coliseum that looked like something straight out of ancient Greek, all three boys were wearing a white tank top with a pair of light blue gym shorts. They stood silently, waiting for their examiner.

They then watched as an old, short and fat satyr entered the Coliseum, wearing a baseball cap with holes for his horns and a green sports jacket over a white T-shirt with a golden symbol of Zeus imprinted on his shirt. To complete this coachy look, he also wore a silver whistle dangling from his neck.

"Are you Philoctetes?" Kit asked.

"Call me Phil," the satyr said, eyeing Kit up and down critically. "Let me guess, you're Chris' long-lost brother, right?"

"Yeah," Kit said, looking annoyed as he was getting tired of being referred to as Chris' long-lost brother.

"Hmm... light and speedy, ideal for dodging attacks and acrobatic maneuvers." Phil said thoughtfully, walking around Kit, looking him up and down. "You're skinny for your species, as is the case with your Dad and brother, so it must be genetic. Good for squeezing through narrow spaces, though." he then took Kit's wrist and forced him to make a muscle and felt the muscle in Kit's arm. Phil whistled. "Oh wow, kid, you may not look it, but you're strong for your age! Okay, I'll let you in, You might go far. Only time and tests will tell."

Kit was proud of his muscles and he was amazed at Phil's analysis of his body.

Phil then turned to Cavin and Cubbi and groaned. "You two again? Well you're determined, stubborn and persistent... I like that."

Cavin puffed out his chest proudly. "We told you, Phil, we're not giving up until we become Dedi Knights!"

"Yeah, Phil! We're going to keep on trying, even if it takes another thousand years!" Cubbi declared.

Phil groaned. "That's what I'm afraid of… Well, you know the rules, empty your pockets."

"Aww, I always hope he'd forget telling us that…" Cubbi muttered as he and Cavin took out their bottle of Gummiberry juice and surrendered them.

"As I've told you two a million times, you can't be a true Dedi Knight if you rely too much on Gummiberry juice." Phil said, taking the two bottles of Gummiberry juice and placing them inside the cooler that sat on the bench. "Now get out onto the field."

Kit, Cavin and Cubbi were then put through various physical challenges, starting with a four hundred metres dash. Phil blew his whistle to signal them to start running. Halfway through the four hundred metres dash, Cubbi ran out of breath, slowing down until he finally fell upon his belly, panting. And although Cavin completed the challenge, Kit beat him over the finish line.

Phil checked off Cubbi from his clipboard as he gave out halfway through, and then he recorded Kit and Cavin's time.

"Are you alright, Cubbi?" Cavin asked in concern as he helped the little pink bear to his feet, who still was panting out of breath.

"Yeah…. I'll be fine." Cubbi panted, wiping sweat from his face. "But I hate doing all of this running!"

"If the four hundred metres dash is too much for you, then you ain't got what it takes to be a Dedi Knight." Phil said bluntly. "Now come along, you three. Onto the next challenge." he led the way with Cavin glaring after him, feeling that Phil was too blunt with Cubbi. Kit was a bit more forgiving, understanding that Phil was just doing his job and only selecting the best, which motivated him to do his best.

Nevertheless, it was a little sad to see Cubbi disheartened by Phil's words. Cavin tried to cheer him up with words of encouragement.

"C'mon, Cubbi, you can do it! Show him what you're made of." Cavin said, "You are Sir Cubbi, you were the Crimson Avenger! Are you really gonna let a silly old goat stand in the way of your dreams?"

A look of newfound determination came over Cubbi's face as he stood tall and proud. "NO! I'll do it!"

"And I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that…" Phil grumbled, his face glowing red, "Now come on! We don't got all day, you know." He led them to the next challenge, which was the running long jump. "Alright, now I want you to run and jump as far as you can."

"This would be easier with Gummiberry juice…" Cubbi muttered.

"Well, a true Dedi Knight doesn't rely on Gummiberry juice for every little problem!" Phil said. "They rely on brains and brawn, and of course, a little bit of speed also helps. You first, kid." he said, gesturing to Kit.

Kit went and stood before a patch of dirt. He got down on all fours, with his rear end up high, waiting for the signal to take off. Phil blew his whistle and Kit took off running at high speed. As he got near the line, he jumped right over it and flew across the patch of dirt, landing on his feet a good distance from the line.

Phil blew his whistle again. "FREEZE!"

Kit froze on the spot, doing his best to steady his balance after such a long jump. Phil took a measuring tape and measured the distance from the starting line to the back of Kit's heels. He whistled in amazement.

"Wow, ten feet!" Phil said, sounding impressed. "Not bad, kid, not bad at all. Alright, Cavin, it's your turn."

"Okay," Cavin said, taking his position, and when Phil blew his whistle, Cavin took off running before he jumped over a good distance beyond the line, and when he landed, Phil blew his whistle again and ran over to measure Cavin's long jump.

"A small improvement from your last long jump, your new record is eight feet!" Phil said, sounding only slightly impressed. He wrote down Cavin's new record on his clipboard. "Alright, ya little pink pipsqueak," Phil said, gesturing to Cubbi. "Your turn."

Kit and Cavin glared at Phil for calling Cubbi a pipsqueak, while Cubbi, looking momentarily upset, took his position, determined to prove his worth.

At Phil's whistle, Cubbi took off running, jumping over the line and landing a few feet away. Once again, Phil blew his whistle and ran forward to measure Cubbi's jump.

Phil did a double take, looking surprised as he examined the measuring tape. "Seven feet… that's impressive for someone your size, kid. That's a new record for you as well."

"Uhm, excuse me, Mr. Phil," Kit said. "Hope you don't mind me asking, but what's my brother, Chris' record?"

"Why do you want to know?" Phil asked with a raised eyebrow..

"Just...you know… since he's already in the academy, I want to know how far there is still to go to reach his level." Kit said.

"Well, let's see…" Phil said, flipping back through his papers on the clipboard. "His score on the long jump is eight feet. Same as Cavin."

"Seriously?" Kit said, sounding a bit disappointed. "And here I thought I had room left to catch up to him on…. Not even in the academy yet, and I already surpassed him in the long jump."

"Hate to break it to ya, kid," Phil said. "But these are old records from a couple of years ago, and Chris has done a lot of growing since then. Since he now has longer legs and had his fair share of battles, he could very well match or even surpass your record."

Kit grinned with a confident smirk. "I welcome the challenge!"

"Alright, kids, come on," Phil said, taking out his Gummiphone. "We got a long way to go." he brought up the song, _I'll Make a Man Out of You_ from his song list and then had the song play over the speakers within the coliseum.

It was the song that Kit, Cavin and Cubbi had to listen to as they each went through the various challenges, such as running through tires, triple jump, high jump and pole vaulting. The song was still playing as they moved on to the throwing events, such as horse shoes, shot put, discus, hammer and javelin. Kit was performing really well in all of these events, with Cavin being a close second and Cubbi performed well in the triple jump but failed the high jump, because he crashed into the bar instead of soaring over it. He passed some of the throw events, but performed very poorly when came to the javelin, as the javelin landed just two feet from where he stood, so he failed the javelin throw.

"Alright, now for your next challenge," Phil said, standing next to the three boys in front of rows and rows of high hedges that formed a giant maze. "You have to get the golden cup at the center of this maze. Whoever gets it first, wins." He put his whistle near his mouth. "Ready! Get set!" he gave a short blast of his whistle and the three boys ran into the maze.

The boys went their own separate ways within the maze. For a while, it felt like they were all running in circles, until Kit and Cavin ran into each other with a loud "Oof!" and fell to the ground. From the ground, they looked up and saw the cup in the distance. They stared at it for a moment, before they scrambled to get up while pushing each other back down. Soon they were racing each other to the cup, running side-by-side. They were almost there and then—

"GOT IT!" Cubbi cried, jumping up from nowhere, snatching up the cup and taking off with it. "I win!" he cried happily.

"What the— that little sneak!" Cavin said as he and Kit stared after Cubbi, both watching him run off with the cup. "He totally stole that win!" he laughed.

Kit laughed too. "Well, he's been trying so hard to catch up to us, so let's let him have this one."

As Kit and Cavin came out of the maze to find Phil and Cubbi waiting for them, Cubbi was jumping up and down in celebration with the cup held over his head.

"Alright, Cubbi wins." Phil said. "Now onto the next challenge!"

The next challenge opened onto a high cliff with Phil and the kids on top of it, next to a big tall tree with a long rope hanging on a branch. On the side of the opposite cliff, hung a damsel dummy.

"When rescuing a damsel, handle with care!" Phil yelled as Kit jumped at the rope, swinging from cliff to the next cliff, grabbing the dummy and pulling it close to himself. He made a U-turn and returned to the cliff, landing on the clifftop next to Phil, holding the dummy in his arms.

"Great job, kid, you pass!" Phil shouted joyfully. "Now, you next, Cavin!"

Cavin ran at the rope and swung to the other cliff and grabbed the other dummy, but because he did not pull the damsel dummy closer to him, the dummy smashed into a tree and Cavin was left holding nothing but its' arm.

"What the—?!" Cavin gasped. "AAHH!" he yelled as he lost control of his swing and got tangled up in the rope, ending up hanging upside down from the rope.

"Ooh…" Phil groaned, palming his face. "Sorry, that amount of damage to the damsel is an automatic fail."

Phil took a long hooked stick and extended it out towards Cavin, hooked the rope and pulled him back to the cliff and he held him on while Kit untangled and untied Cavin from the rope and he fell to the ground.

"Cubbi, you're up." Phil said, pointing a thumb over his shoulder at the edge of the cliff.

"Ya-hoo!" Cubbi cried happily, jumping at the rope and swinging off to the next damsel dummy. It was a controlled swing, he swung around to get behind the dummy, wrapping his legs and one arm around it and then swung back to cliff. Halfway back to the cliff, he lost his grip on the dummy "NO!" he cried, as the dummy fell into the rushing river below, breaking apart against the rocks.

"Sorry, kid, but that's an automatic fail." Phil said, he then sighed sadly. "That's strike three for you, Cubbi, you're out. Try again next year."

Cubbi immediately teared up. "NO!" he cried in anguish. "I worked so hard for over nine hundred years for this! I never grew up in all the time I've been here! No matter how much I train, I'll never be big enough to jump over that bar, or strong enough throw that stupid javelin, or big and strong enough to rescue that damsel! I'm always gonna be just a stupid little pipsqueak!"

"Aw, c'mon kid, I didn't train ya to think like that…" Phil said, sounding stunned by Cubbi's outburst.

With angry tears running down his face, Cubbi ran to Phil's cooler, took back his Gummiberry juice from within the cooler and pulled the cork out.

"What the— Cubbi!" Phil cried.

"Just leave me alone…" Cubbi sobbed, he then gulped down some juice and took off, bouncing away from them and out of sight.

"Cubbi!" Cavin cried after him, then he sighed and turned to glare at Phil. "Nice going…"

"Look, kid, it ain't my fault." Phil said defensively. "I'm under strict instructions to test you all to see if you're worthy of the entrance exam! I'm not allowed to be biased or show favoritism. It's always three strikes and you're out." Cavin continues to glare at him. "Look kid, you want him to end up like Gusto?"

Sorrow filled Cavin's face and he bowed his head. "No..."

"What happened to Gusto?" Kit asked in concern.

"Back when we were _LESS_ strict in our Dedi selections, Gusto, inexperienced as he was, was assigned to a mission and he got captured and taken to Drekmore castle." Phil said. "After that, I was told to impose a three-strikes-and-you're-out rule."

"Gusto was never a fighter, he was an artist, a creative genius." Cavin said, trying hard not to cry. "He was on a mission to find something. Cubbi and I stowed away on his ship, but the ship broke down and we landed in Drekmore, the worst world anyone could be on. And when we were surrounded by ogres, he told us to take the ship while he distracted them, he led them away from us so we could escape and we saw the ogres capturing him and Arty."

Kit gasped. "So that's why you and Cubbi are trying so hard to become Dedis and never giving up on it… You guys feel guilty for him getting captured and you want to help save him!"

"That's a big part of it, yes." Cavin confirmed, sniffing and wiping his eyes on his sleeve. "But we also wanna help save other worlds too."

"No wonder Cubbi got so upset when he failed," Kit said with sympathy in his voice. "After so many years of trying and failing to get into the Dedi Academy… Yeah, if I thought getting into the academy was the only way to save my friends and I kept failing to pass some difficult challenges to get in, I'd be upset too."

"C'mon, you two, you've got one challenge left. So let's hop to it." Phil said, clapping his hands and leading the way to the next challenge. Phil led them to the edge of what looked like a football field, and on the other end of the field was another damsel dummy tied to a post. "Now, all you have to do is get through this field and rescue the damsel."

Kit and Cavin both looked at the field, one thing that struck them was how non-threatening this field appeared. It was an empty field, free of any visible obstacles, nothing in their way to the damsel.

"Kit, you first. On your mark, get set, GO!"

Kit took off running into field, heading straight for the damsel dummy. Suddenly, the ground ahead of him splitted open, the gap widened more and more every second. Kit knew he didn't have time to stop and evade the huge widening gap in the ground, so instead, he ran harder and faster, jumping over the gap and kept on running.

By instinct, he jumped up as he was still running and it was a good thing he did, because he felt a rush of air as he narrowly avoided stepping into the bear traps hidden in the grass. He jumped from right to left, avoiding more bear traps, as they snapped at his ankles as he passed them.

Suddenly, four walls rose up from the ground, boxing Kit in. He had to jump from wall to wall to escape the confined space.

The ground splitted open once again, this time revealing a pool of lava. Kit gritted his teeth as he made a running long jump, jumping high over the lava. He then quickly pulled out his airfoil and set it under his feet in midair, causing him to glide the rest of the way over the lava, and when he landed, he kept on running, leaving his airfoil behind on the ground.

Back at the start line, Phil and Cavin were both watching Kit in awe.

"WHOA!" Phil exclaimed in amazement when Kit glided over the lava on his airfoil. "Quick on his feet, and quick-thinking! This one will go far as a Dedi!"

Kit was almost there, just a few more yards and...

The space between Kit and the damsel dummy opened up to create a narrow walkway with a pit of very sharp spikes on each side, and to make matters worse, two pendulum blades were swinging, crossing each other midway the narrow path. This more than anything forced Kit to slide to a stop.

Kit walked slowly down the narrow pathway. "Easy, Cloudkicker, easy…" he said to himself. "One wrong move, and…" he gulped, looking down into the pit of spikes. "you're Kit-kebob."

Kit got closer to the swinging blades, he waited for the right time, then he lept ahead beyond the first blade. Then he cringed as he felt the swish of the blades swinging much too close to his back. He quickly felt his back and rear end to make sure everything was still there.

He let out a breath of relief. "Phew! That was too close for comfort!"

There was one blade left to get pass before he reached the damsel dummy. He waited for the blade to swing by before curling himself into a ball and quickly rolling across the ground past the final blade, before he jumped at the damsel dummy, grabbing it into his arms as Phil blew his whistle.

"Way ta go, kid! That was great!" he cheered. "You passed!" All the traps throughout the field deactivated. Then he took out a pair of cards and handed them to Kit as he rejoined them, having walked across the field to them. "Here, your entrance exam pass. You need it to get into the exam's location, so don't lose it. The other one is your free Power Counsel pass. If you're not sure what your powers are, go to the Power Counselors and they'll help you find it."

"Thank you, sir," Kit said, accepting the cards. He then took out his Gummiphone, flipped it open, put the cards in it and then snap it shut. "Huh, of all things, I never thought I'd use a phone as a clip. Bye, guys! Good luck, Cavin."

Cavin smiled weakly as Kit left.

Kit followed the address on the card to a set of gates made of red lasers, beyond which sat a house on a hilltop. He noticed a console on the side of the gate with a screen and a single button.

He pressed the button and a security agent appeared on screen.

"You have an appointment?" the security agent asked.

"Uhm, yes," Kit said, holding up his card. "I was sent here by—" he stopped speaking as a tiny woman with black hair and big round glasses appeared on screen, beating the security agent away.

"Go check the electric fence out back," she said, then she put her face right up close to the camera, so Kit got an unwanted view of her nostrils.

All Kit could do was to restrain himself from making a face that mirrored his disgust at the sight of her nostrils, his face and eyebrows twitching with the effort, trying to keep a pleasant smile on his face.

"What is it? Who are you? What do you want?" the woman said, sounding like an interrogator.

Having never seen a human before, Kit could not help but stare at her, wondering to himself what exactly was she.

"Stop staring, it's creeping me out!" the woman snapped. "Now, I'll say it again; who are you?"

"I'm..." Kit started to say, but the woman interrupted him.

"My gosh! YES, the last Cloudkicker is finally here!" she said excitedly. "Come in, dahling. Come, come."

And just like that, the laser gates opened up to admit him and Kit walked through as he started to climb the hill up to the house.

As Kit reached the top of the hill and approached the front door, the door opened and there stood the short human woman that Kit saw on the screen by the gates. Despite her short structure, Kit could not help but feel intimidated by her. She was just an inch shorter than him, but he was under the impression that she was inwardly a giant that towered over him.

"Ah, yes. Yes, yes, I've been wondering when I'd be seeing you, Kit Cloudkicker."

"H-how did you know my name?" Kit asked

"Oh, come now, dahling. You look like Chris and yet, you're not Chris. So therefore, you're Chris' brother. And he talks of you quite often." she said in pride of her own intelligence. "It's that simple. This is not rocket science... Now come, follow me."

Kit followed her into the house. They stood in what appeared to be the entrance hall, at the end of which was a door that led into the main house. On the wall next to the door was a set of security consoles. A hand scanner, a keypad, an eye scanner and a microphone.

"In case you've been sleeping out under a rock, my name is Edna Mode, costume designer for heroes and the Power Counselor for the Dedis. You see, most people who come here are completely unaware of the power they hold inside. It is my job to help you discover yours, so you can learn how to eventually bring it out."

"Will I have powers like Dad and Chris?" Kit asked, looking at his hands in awe at the thought that he might held some hidden powers yet to discover.

"No, while powers of individuals can be similar, they're not quite the same." Edna said. "No two people have the exact same power, and those who might have a similar power to yours, might require more or less mental capacity to bring it out. Hold on, dahling, we'll talk more inside." she said as she reached her security console. She typed in her password on the keypad with her cigarette stick, scanned her hand, she then lowered her glasses to have her eyes scanned and then spoke into the microphone. "Ed-na Mode."

Kit yelped in fear as a ray gun popped suddenly out of the ceiling and aimed at him!

"...And guest." Edna added, causing the ray gun to retreat back into the ceiling and the door in front of them to open.

It was then that Kit noticed as they walked into the house, that Edna held herself up high and she walked very rigidly, as if she saw herself as the most important thing in the universe.

They walked to the center of the living room before Edna turned to Kit and grabbed his wrist, forcing his hand palm up.

"First things first, we must establish whether or not you're a D-blade wielder." she said, raising her other hand with her index finger pointing out. "Now hold still, dahling, this will not hurt a bit."

She brought her finger down onto the palm of Kit's hand and Kit gasped as her finger seemed to have sank right through a vortex on his palm. It felt really strange as she swirled her finger around the hole on his palm, it felt really hot and cold at the same time. Then she gasped, her eyes widened and she withdrew her finger from Kit's hand as the vortex in his hand vanished.

"Y-you are the legendary Dual Wielder!" she gasped in awe.

"Dual...wielder?" Kit said slowly, stretching his head. "You mean I get _TWO_ D-blades?!"

"Yes, dahling. Now go ahead and summon your D-blades." Edna said.

There was a pause and then Kit asked: "How?"

"What?"

"How do I summon my D-blades?" Kit repeated. "I was under the impression that the D-blades are something that's given to you once you become a Dedi."

"Oh no, dahling, no, no…" Edna said, shaking her head. "D-blades are something you are born with, they lay dormant within your Heart core. Not something you're rewarded with."

"But how do I summon them?" Kit asked.

Edna sighed. "Fine, I'll help you summon them, but pay attention to how it feels. You'll need to learn to recreate that feeling in order to summon them at will." she then stretched out her hand towards Kit and said in a commanding voice: "D-blades of Kit Cloudkicker, reveal yourselves!"

Kit felt his hands and forearms tingling with a mixture of hot and cold feeling, it was like a cold burning feeling. His hand glowed hot before two flashlight-like devices appeared in his hands. He stared in awe at the two devices in his hands. Then he pressed the buttons on the devices with his thumbs and gasped as two glowing green pole-like blades extended up out of the hilt.

"Wow, but how am I gonna recreate this hot and cold feeling I got when you called out my D-blades?" Kit asked, while staring at his blades in awe.

"That," said Edna. "Is something you have to learn on your own. Your brother so rarely dismisses his D-blade, because he worries that he would not be able to recreate that feeling fast enough, so he just put his away under his clothes. Which is inadvisable, as it could lead to being discovered."

"Yeah, that was how I found his, in his clothes when I was gathering the laundry." Kit said. "So, how do I dismiss these?" he asked, holding up his two D-blades."

"Just focus on the desire for them to disappear, and they will." Edna said.

"Okay…" Kit said, then he stared at the two blades intensely, focusing on the wish for them to be gone and to his surprise, they vanished in a flash of light. "Wow, I did it!"

"Now, try calling them back." Edna said.

Kit stared at his hands, trying to remember the cold burning feeling, as well as the tingling feeling he felt when Edna forced the D-blades to appear, but nothing happened.

"Don't worry if you can't get them to reappear, dahling" Edna said. "It takes a while for a person to learn how to summon their weapon. Now, if you just hold still…." she said, reaching over to Kit's head.

"OW!" Kit cried as Edna plucked a lock of hair from his scalp."What was that for?!"

"It's for a DNA analysis, dahling, so I can study your genetic makeup. It also allows me to create a demo clone of you. A fully mastered version of you, so you can see what you're capable of after you discover your powers. Now come, follow me."

"Ya could've just asked me…." Kit complained, rubbing his head as he followed Edna.

She led him into the dining room, where there was a long table with a whole buffet on it.

"Help yourself to whatever you like, while I study your DNA." Edna said as she walked along the dining room and into the next room, closing the door behind her. "...and design you a super suit…" she added under her breath, looking inspired.

Kit picked up a plate and got himself a small scoop of everything. He then sat down at a table and began to eat.

After he finished eating, the door slid open and Edna stood there in the doorway.

"It is finished." she announced.

Kit and Edna walked through her studio where she created fashionable clothes and costumes for superheroes. They both sat down into a pair of chairs with a table between them bearing a tea tray.

"Cream and sugar?" Edna offered him a cup of tea, and he accepted.

"Thank you," Kit said, taking a sip.

Then their seats rotated around and faced the huge window, as the panel behind the window lifted up to reveal a small empty room.

"We'll start with your new super suit that I made for you," Edna said as a door on the left side of the room opened and a pair of mechanical arms moved across the ceiling into the room, holding a tiny green, camouflage-styled baby size onesie. "Your suit is similar to your brother's, except I made yours camouflage instead of blue. The suit is skin tight, yet reasonably comfortable for sensitive skin, or in your case, itchy fur. It's completely elastic, able to stretch to any size." she said as the mechanical arms stretched the suit from baby size to a full grown adult size that would fit Baloo. Suddenly, the room was filled with fire. "Able to withstand a temperature of over one thousand degrees!" she said with a look of glee in her eyes, the blaze reflecting in her glasses.

Kit sat there, leaning back in his chair with a look of horror on his face, then he glanced over at Edna with a look that clearly said: ' _Are you crazy?!'_

The fire in the room died down and Edna continued with her presentation.

"Completely bulletproof... "

Two pairs of machine guns came down from the ceiling and opened fire on the suit. After a moment of shooting, the guns retreated back up into the ceiling, leaving the suit completely undamaged, not a single bullet hole on it.

"As you are a cloudsurfer who skies on the clouds at high speed, I had to add a feature normally reserved for speedster heroes." Edna continued. "Your suit will be able to withstand an enormous friction without heating up or wearing out."

"Wow," Kit said in awe. "This will really come in handy!"

Edna smiled with pride, proud at being able to wow Kit. "Notice the emblem on the chest?"

Kit narrowed his eyes as he looked closely, and he saw that the emblem was a round blue globe inside an upside-down red triangle, and a silhouette of himself on his airfoil within the globe with puffs of clouds underneath the silhouette.

"Yeah." Kit said.

"That is also a button that activates the invisibility mode," Edna said as a mechanical hand came down from the ceiling and pressed on the emblem and the suit vanished. "Great for spy work and espionage. Great for sneaking around without being seen. And a great tool for combat, enabling you to retreat and allowing you to take a short break to recover stamina."

"Wow, I've never seen anything like this!" Kit said excitedly. "You've really outdone yourself!"

"Not yet, dahling, not yet. There are still a few things I have yet to mention..." Edna said as two missile rockets appeared in the display room, aiming at the suit. "...it's virtually indestructible."

Kit watched in awe as the missiles fired themselves at the suit, each of them exploding on contact with the suit. When the smoke cleared, there stood the suit, looking completely undamaged.

"And on the back.." Edna pressed a button and the suit turned around to display its' back. There was a round disc-shape slot on the upper back between the shoulder blades. "...is a slot for your air board. It holds your board in place with a magnet"

"Oh wow, you've thought of everything, haven't you?" Kit said in amazement.

"Now for the footwear…" Edna said, as the platform under their table and chairs moved, rolling across the room to the next window, wherein was a pair of green camouflage shoes. "Normally I equip super suits with boots, but with you, I had to go with a pair of shoes instead, as boots would hinder your ankles' flexibility on a cloudsurf board."

"Airfoil." Kit corrected her.

"Yes, yes… whatever." Edna said dismissively. "When you tap the heels together, the shoes will lock together and form its own airfoil." The shoes tapped its' own heels and locked together, an airfoil popped out from the bottom of the shoes. "This is in case you lose your airfoil. The shoes also have rocket boosters to provide you with thrust in case you are surfing without an aircraft."

"Wow, these shoes are amazing!" Kit cried with a face that resembled a child on Christmas morning.

"And finally, the headwear." Edna said, pressing a button on a remote control, causing the shoes to move on into the next chamber and a green aviator hat and greenish brown goggles took its' place. "That is more helmet than hat, as it will protect your head from almost anything."

Kit watched as a fire engulfed the hat and it remained undamaged and unburnt. Then the hat was subjected to a hail of machine gun fire, followed by a couple of missile strikes. Nothing seemed to damage it.

"As you can see, the hat embodies all the same protection as the suit itself." Edna said. "It also has a gyro stabilizing pad inside the hat to protect you from concussions by an outside force. The lenses of the goggles allow to zoom in on an area from afar, essentially acting as a pair of binoculars. They also have a Detective Mode, allowing you to see people through walls as blue skeletons. And a thermal reader for foot tracking, allowing you to see glowing footprints on the ground where people had walked within the previous two hours, meaning that if you ever get lost, you can follow your own footprints back to places you've been. It's also good for tracking someone."

Kit was speechless at this point, gazing at the hat and goggles with utter amazement.

"And that concludes the suit's presentation," Edna said, "So... Do you like it?"

"Do l like it? _DO I LIKE IT?!_ " Kit exclaimed, barely able to contain his excitement. "I LOVE IT! When can I try it on?!"

"All in good time, but first, let's discuss about your powers." Edna said, and the platform beneath their table and chairs moved to another window, behind which was—

"Hey! That's me!" Kit said as his lookalike stared blankly back at him.

"No, dahling, this is a demo clone of you, made from your DNA." Edna said. "Through this demo, I was able to learn all of your powers and design your suit accordingly. But know this, just because you know what your powers are, doesn't mean you can use them right away. You'll first need to learn how to tap into them and then learn how to use them through training."

"Aw, jeepers…" Kit said, disappointed.

"Now…" Edna said. "A person normally has three powers; a common power, a special power and an elemental power. If you're a mage or a wizard, you'd have four powers; common, special, elemental and magic. All of these powers are from the Heart. Your personality traits and your characteristics play a huge role in what kind of powers you'll have. Example; if you're a shy person, your special power would likely be invisibility, forceshield or both."

"What's the common power? Is that a power everyone have?" asked Kit interestedly.

"Yes, or a power most people have, which is usually telekinesis." Edna said, gesturing to the demo clone behind the glass in front of them.

Kit watched as a table with a glass of water on top of it rose up from the floor, and his clone made a gesture with his hand, causing the glass to lift up off the table and then fly around the room.

"As for your special power… well, I had to come up with a name for it and I called it Master of the Cloud." Edna continued. "This power gives you complete control of all clouds in the sky. You're basically the Cloud King with this power. That ought to be your superhero name."

"The Cloud King? I dunno, I like my name of Cloudkicker better." Kit said, looking as though he didn't think much of Cloud King.

"Superhero rule number one; never use your real name or anything associated with your secret identity once you've become a hero!" Edna scolded him. "Now watch."

Kit watched as the room in which his demo clone was in began to fill with its' own artificial clouds, and how the clone posed in a stance and stretched his hand towards a cloud and began to make the clouds move according to the movement of his hand.

The clone made the cloud swirl around the room and then he summoned the clouds to him, hiding himself in the clouds as they wrapped around his body like a cotton candy blanket.

Then, the clouds took on the exact same color and texture as the clone and then splitted into a dozen more Kit clones. After that, the clones merged back into one big cloud leaving only one clone. And with a swirl of his fingers, the clone made the cloud take the form of an ice cream swirl and then he made the clouds form a star, a snowman and finally he spelled his name, KIT CLOUDKICKER with the cloud in a form of skywriting.

"And for a demonstration of your elemental power…" Edna said, gesturing to the demo clone with her cigarette. "Your elemental power is… Aerokinesis, which is the power over the wind."

A dozen enemy dummies appeared in the tank with the demo clone, and Kit watched in awe as the demo clone jumped up before landing on its feet in a martial arts stance and then threw a couple of punches in a few different directions towards the dummies from where he stood, a few yards away from the dummies. A powerful force of wind shot from the demo clone's fist and blew all the dummies away, causing them to fly at the walls and crashing into them, as if they were hit with a F-five tornado-force wind.

Once all the demonstrations were over, the panel lid down over the window, hiding the demo clone from view.

For a moment, Kit sat there with a stunned look on his face.

"I...I can make clones of myself with the clouds?!" Kit said in amazement, looking at his hands. " _AND_ shoot wind outta' my hands?! Oh man, I can't wait til I learn how to do that, and all the other cool stuff I'd be able to do that this demo clone showed me!" he then turned to Edna. "Thank you for everything, Miss Edna."

"Oh please, call me E, dahling." Edna said, she then handed him a shopping bag that contained his new super suit. "Here you are, on the house."

"Really? Oh gosh, thank you!" Kit said, hugging Edna.

"You're welcome," Edna said, hugging him back before she led him back to the front door. "And even if you don't become a Dedi, you'd still look fabulous and be protected in that super suit anyway." she said as she gestured Kit out the door. "Goodbye." she said, walking away.

And before Kit could say a word, the front door slammed shut in front of him.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **A paragraph in episode eleven has been altered, instead of Dewey crying that he never knew his Mom, it has been changed to imply that Della Duck has been with them at the D-Star for a whole year before she disappeared again. The paragraph now reads:**

" **Why?!** _ **WHY?!**_ **We only just had her back for a year and now she's gone again!" Dewey screamed, picking up his camera and throwing it across the room, where it smashed against the opposite wall. He then slumped down on his chair, his head bowed. "I knew that moon mission was a bad idea!"**

 **Hope you like this change. But to find out why she went back to the moon for a mission, stay tuned for more!**

 **Special thanks my editor, Cyclone Blaze.**


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